


A Sonic BOOM Story: Rewritten and Remastered

by Emme2589



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood, Child Neglect, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mild Language, Panic Attacks, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2019-11-21 07:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 71,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18139133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emme2589/pseuds/Emme2589
Summary: Doctor Robotnik (Eggman) has given his greatest enemy a challenge: Stop his Eclipse Cannon within five years, or his entire life will be destroyed.





	1. Chapter 1

_It was a chilly August evening when that 2-month-old blue hedgehog lay fast asleep in a basket, curled up in thick fleece blankets with tiny ears flat against his head. He didn't know it at the time, but his parents were dead, having lost the great war against the man with a mustache. They got their children to safety, but Christmas Island was no longer safe, and it wasn’t long before all three triplets were separated._

_Someone approached the basket, deep into the night. He lifted the baby in his arms, careful not to wake him, as the baby continued to doze._

_A curt laugh escaped the older one, “So. Aleena didn't make it...did she?” the words were sad on his mouth, like they were salty to taste, “I should’ve known they couldn't go alone…”_

_The wind picked up, and the older hedgehog instinctively held the baby closer to himself. The smaller of the two awoke from the movement, and he began to cry._

_“Oh, you poor little boy…” the man disappeared into the night, hoping the child’s wails wouldn't attract too much attention, “Don’t worry, your Uncle Chuck’ll take care of you.”_

_The smaller hedgehog nuzzled into the older one, finding warmth in the crook of the older’s neck, “You are going to be extraordinary._

_“Sonic the Hedgehog.”_

***

**June - Year 0**

Sonic looked out over the horizon. Christmas Island. He’d never been here before as far as he remembered, but his uncle told him he was born here. Had it already been ten years since then?

“Happy birthday, Sonic!”

He turned to the face of his Uncle Chuck, his smile stretching across his face, “Did you get me a cake!?”

“Hoho! I sure did, my boy!” Chuck brandished a vanilla cake with blue frosting, “No candles this year, but you can still make a wish!”

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut as he wished with all his might, “Okay let’s eat it now!”

“Alright!” Chuck set the cake down and brandished a thick butter knife, “Just try not to get it all over your face.”

The wind rushed through the bright, emerald-green grass as the two hedgehogs sat down with their picnic. Sonic savored every bite of his small slice, wondering if he’d ever get cake this good again.

“Hey, Chuck?” thinking of the question Sonic wanted to ask, a small knot formed in his tiny stomach.

“Yes, my boy?”

Sonic looked over at Chuck’s messy white mustache and through his spectacles, to his curious cerulean-blue eyes. He took a deep breath.

“Will I be all alone?” his mouth turned into a sad, squiggly line, “On this mission?”

Chuck’s eyes twinkled as he smiled, placing one calloused, gloved hand on his nephew’s shoulder, “Far from it. I will be with you the entire time, you just won’t always see me.”

That made him feel a _little_ better, but he was still fighting that anxiety.

“Hey, Sonic.” Chuck looked out over Green Hill, “You love running, and you love helping people. This will let you do both. And trust me, those badniks couldn't fight off so much as a grasshopper. Even when I’m on the sidelines, you can handle this.”

Sonic pondered this, “And if it’s really bad, then you’ll be there?”

“Count on it, little man.” he gave Sonic’s arm a gentle slap before he stood up, “Now, you done with your cake?”

With the worry aside for the moment, Sonic let his excitement to the forefront as he helped to pack away their lunch and store it in the Tornado; A red biplane of Chuck’s own design.

“Now, you remember what I told you?”

“Stay on Green Hill, watch where I’m running, and, uh…” Sonic smiled sheepishly, “What was the last thing?”

Chuck ruffled Sonic’s short quills, “Be careful. I know it’s your instinct to rush into things, but you could get hurt that way. It’s always better to err on the side of caution.”

“Okay okay I’ll remember that.” Sonic crossed his heart with his finger.

“Well then…” Chuck closed the compartment of the plane, “Go on.”

Sonic looked from his uncle to the vast expanse of grassy hills, “Wait, now? Right now?”

Chuck gave a hearty laugh, “Yes! Right now! I can’t expect to cage you up forever, so. Go! Run! I know you want to.”

Sonic _did_ want to. His feet _ached_ to dash for the fields, but he was always told to stick close and not run off on his own.

“I can easily catch up with you.” Chuck assured, “Speed runs in our family.”

That was true…

Finally, after Sonic decided he wouldn't be scolded for running away, he smiled. The biggest smile he’d ever mustered. And then, he was gone.

In a flash, he sped towards the the forest, then he turned to run along the edge of it. He wasn't as fast as Chuck, but that didn't mean he was slow. His excitement caused a flutter in his heart once he realized just how fast he would be in just a few years. It was so overwhelming that he almost forgot to watch where he was going. He stumbled, so he carefully slowed to a stop. Looking around, he realized he was close to the city, and that Chuck was nowhere to be seen.

Remembering the older hedgehog’s promise to stick close, he steadied his breathing and started to run again, slower this time, and more aware of his surroundings. It wasn’t long before he encountered his first badnik, a ladybug robot on one large wheel. It charged at him with it’s spiked claws, so Sonic did the only thing he could think of; He curled into a ball, his soft quills sharpening into thick spikes, as he jumped, landing on the robot’s head. It broke apart on impact, and a tiny bird flew out of its depths.

“Whoa…” Sonic scooped the bird into his hands and it chirped happily; A song of thanks. It stuck around just a little longer before it flew away.

“A flicky!” he gasped. Not a mobian, but a small animal. He looked off into the distance, where dozens more badniks were roaming around the lush fields. And beyond that…

Sonic felt his heart sink. The whole land leading into the city was dead. Dull and brown. Run-down buildings ran the length of the shoreline. Deeper into the forest, there was an entire chemical plant spewing pink water into the lakes and rivers. It made his skin crawl. What happened to this island?

His ears perked when he heard something in the field; A scream.

He ran back into the hills, searching for the source of the scream. A cluster of badniks was closing in on something, preparing to strike-!

_“Help! Someone help me!”_

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat, “Hey!”

The badniks turned in his direction. Gritting his teeth, Sonic curled himself into a spiky ball and charged directly at the group, jumping onto each of their heads and reducing them one by one into scrap metal. A flicky popped out of each one.

“Whoa!”

Sonic turned to the target of the assault; A yellow fox who couldn't have been older than three or four. The flickies bunched around him, with squeaks and oinks and chirps of apologies. He giggled as the tiny animals nuzzled his fuzzy cheeks.

Sonic extended his hand to the fox, and he took it gratefully, standing up on his short legs. He dusted off his red and white shoes.

“That was so cool!” the fox said with stars in his eyes, “You have to show me how to do that! You got rid of them like it was nothing!”

Sonic’s chest swelled with pride, “Well, you know. All in a day’s work.” his eyes went wide as he suddenly noticed something peculiar, “Huh? Do you have...two tails?”

The fox shamefully tried to hide them from view, without much success.

“Um,” Sonic cringed. Clearly this was something he wasn't proud of, “What’s your name?”

The fox bit his lip, twisting his fingers together over his gloves, _“Tails.”_

“Hm?” his voice was so soft, “Sorry, I didn't catch that. What’d you say?”

“Tails.” he said louder, “It’s Tails.”

“Oh.” Sonic gave a thumbs up, “My name is Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Tails opened his mouth to reply, but instead he gasped.

Sonic turned around. Robots were quickly approaching them with weapons in their arms. Badniks? No, these ones were much too big. They had to be something else. Whatever they were, they were obviously dangerous, and they were quickly surrounded. The flickies ran for their lives. Sonic jumped in front of Tails to protect him, but he was starting to panic. These ones were so much scarier! How could he stop them!? He fought the urge to cry. He didn't know what to do.

_“Sonic!”_

Sonic turned to the voice just as one of the robots was booted off their feet.

“Uncle Chuck!”

Chuck made short work of the group, jumping from one to the next in a flurry of color. All the robots were broken, but no animals were hidden in these ones. They did that all on their own.

“Sonic.”

Tails yelped and jumped away, but Sonic threw himself into his uncles arms.

“Are you okay, boy?”

“I’m okay.” Sonic smiled up at him, relief flooding through his body.

Chuck broke the embrace, “Who’s this?”

“Oh, this is…” but Tails shook his head, his ears down and his hands over his face.

“Oh, kiddo. It’s okay.” Chuck slowly extended his hand, “I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

Tails lifted his gaze to meet Chuck’s. Those twinkling eyes must have worked their charm, because Tails ran right past the outstretched hand to wrap his arms around him. Chuck held him close.

“Hey, it’s alright. Everything’s alright.” he pulled back to study Tails’ expression, “Where are your parents, little man?”

 _“Um…”_ Tails hugged one of his tails, “I dunno. S’just me.”

Chuck frowned at the poor kid, “It’s just you?”

Tails squirmed under the scrutiny.

“Well, that just won’t do.” Chuck stood up, patting Tails on the head, “You’ll have to come home with us. Is that okay?”

Tails looked up at him wide-eyed.

“You must be hungry.” Chuck turned to leave, “Come on, kids. I think we still have some sandwiches in the plane.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original version of this story was one of my first attempts at a fan story, and at the time I was really proud of it, but I've always wanted to rewrite it with my better skills. The original I know I started because I was excited for the release of Sonic BOOM (both the games and the tv show), so if that was at the beginning of 2014, that means I had just turned 15. How am I literally 20 now.
> 
> So yeah, just to put into perspective how long it's been.
> 
> One more thing though; This story is very long. I just finished the final chapter, and it's 41 chapters long! Part of this story was just me expressing my love for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and what it means to me, so I hope you guys appreciate all my nods and references to the games.


	2. Chapter 2

**June - Year 0**

“So you found me on your birthday?”

“Yep. That was when Chuck decided to let me run around free! He's _never_ let me do that before!”

Sonic and Tails were quickly bonding. They both had a love of airplanes, and helping others with their speed.

“Wow.” Tails tried to contain his excitement, “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks!”

Chuck sat down behind them, “I see you two are getting along nicely. Now Sonic, you said you had a question?”

“Oh, yeah…” Sonic had been about to ask him something, but he was busy with their lunch, and he had wanted to wait until that was done so he could give Sonic his full attention, “What happened…” he pointed, “...over there?”

Chuck lost his smile looking over the city, “Oh…”

They sat in silence long enough that Tails leaned into Uncle Chuck, feeling uneasy. Chuck held the young fox close to himself as he collected his thoughts.

“Doctor Robotnik.” he said, pursing his lips, “Nobody knows where he came from, but he just showed up one day and destroyed this entire city. I wasn't living here at the time, but my sister lived here with her wife, and her three children. By the time I finally made it, it was far too late to save them. But…” Chuck placed his free hand on Sonic's shoulder, “I did manage to find you.”

Sonic blinked, looking up at his uncle with clear excitement in his round, green eyes, “I had two moms?”

Chuck's warm smile came back, “Yeah. And my sister-in-law was the most down-to-earth, headstrong woman I've ever met. Aleena and I, we were more soft-spoken and kind of meek, but Bernadette? She didn't take crap from _anyone._ I guess it doesn't surprise me that she was on the front lines of Robotnik's resistance.” he sighed, rubbing the wrinkles on his rough face, “If only I had gotten here sooner...maybe they would still be alive…”

Sonic rubbed his eyes. His mothers had died heroes, and Chuck was the only reason he hadn't joined them. A _baby._ He was _just a baby._

“Um…” Sonic took a shaky breath, “Thanks...for… _saving me…”_

“Oh, my boy!” Chuck swept him up in his arms, “I don't mean to imply my trip was meaningless! I'll always be _so grateful_ that I at least found you before it was too late.”

Sonic giggled as he held Chuck's hug. Tails tugged on Chuck's arm, feeling left out, and he understood, freeing one of his arms to hold him as well. Tails softly laughed in the hug.

“But, wait…” Sonic looked up quizzically, “You said three children…?”

“That's right, kiddo. You have two siblings.” Chuck let the two children sit on either side of him, “A brother and a sister. I searched the entire city for you three, but I only found you.”

Sonic stood up to walk to the edge of the hill, looking out over the city. He started when he realized, they weren't ruins at all! The city was still inhabited, but it was so run-down that nobody there could be very happy. But that's just it; People lived there.

“Are they still here?”

Chuck thought about it, “Honestly, Sonic? I don't know. I searched as long as possible, but I couldn't find them.”

“I'll find them!” Sonic turned around, “They could help us get rid of Robotnik! And they're our family! We should at least make sure they're still alive, right?”

As he spoke, Chuck got that inquisitive look on his face. His smile that made his blue eyes sparkle. Sonic stopped in his excited rambling to watch his uncle's loving gaze.

“So…” Sonic looked sorrowfully out at the city, then back at his uncle, “Do you think I can do it?”

Chuck ran a hand through his rough quills, “My boy, I know you can. I've known since you were just a wee youngster that you were destined for greatness.” Chuck placed both his hands on his nephew's shoulders, “You _will_ be a hero, just like you've always wanted, and I will be with you through _all_ of it.”

Sonic beamed through the tears in his eyes, “You believe in me?”

A glimmer shone over Chuck's spectacles, “With all my heart.”

“Can I be a hero too?”

Both hedgehog's looked down at the eager fox, who was bouncing with excitement on his feet.

Without missing a beat, Chuck ruffled the fur on Tails’ head, “Well, I haven't known you long, but if that's what you want, then I know you can do it.”

Tails open-mouthed smile was enough to light up a room.

“Well, you brought me out here for a reason, right Chuck?” Sonic felt that flutter of adventure in his chest again, “Can we go in there? I’m _sure_ we can find them!”

Chuck stood by Sonic on the hillside, Tails on his other side, “I don’t know, Sonic. This is Robotnik’s territory, it’s going to be dangerous, and you’re still so young…”

“Come on, Chuck! You’ll be with me!” Sonic tugged on Chuck’s arm, “We can do this! I know we can!”

“Well…” Chuck scratched the back of his head, “Sonic, Robotnik came here for you. I don’t know why, it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s a miracle I found you before he did…”

Sonic’s stomach turned at the declaration, but he didn’t waver, “Please?”

Chuck’s fuzzy eyebrows furrowed in worry. His gaze flicked back and forth from the city to his nephew, clearly apprehensive about the idea of even _entering_ the city let alone spending hours in it searching for kids that might not even be there. But Sonic had the heart of a hero, that much was clear, and Chuck was afraid that if he said no, Sonic would go anyway, and being _alone_ in that city would be even worse. After much debate in his head, Sonic was beginning to fear that Chuck would drag him away from Christmas Island, and then he would never know if his siblings were still here without him, but finally, Chuck sighed heavily.

“You’re not gonna let me say no, are you, Sonic?”

Sonic felt a bit guilty about causing his legal guardian so much distress, but he didn’t let himself waver, “I have to do this.”

“I know.” Chuck gazed into the city one more time before he said, “Okay, we can go, but you have to be careful!”

“I swear I will be _super_ careful!” Sonic jumped up and down, “Come on! This side isn’t busy, we can start over there!”

Tails slid his hand into Chuck’s, and he in turn gave it a gentle squeeze, “Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ll stick together.” He lifted the fox onto his shoulders, “Now, let’s not let that nephew of mine get too far away.”

***

Sonic slowed to a stop, falling backwards so he could sit down and loosen his shoes, “Chuck, my feet hurt.”

“Yeah.” Chuck sat down next to him, Tails asleep on his shoulders, “We’ve been at this all day. Should we head back to the plane?”

Sonic yawned, “Carry me?”

Chuck shifted Tails to one of his arms, “Sure thing, but you’ll have to hold on to me so I don’t drop Tails.”

Sonic was too tired to argue, he just climbed onto Chuck’s back, wrapped his legs around his waist, and held onto his shoulders with his arms. He was the one who had insisted they stay out so long, because that fire in his heart wouldn’t extinguish even hours after the sun had set. But after being out like this without finding anything, he was beginning to feel hopeless.

 _“But we don’t get things done if we give up.”_ Chuck would always tell him, _“We get up, and we try again.”_

But right now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

“Hm?” Sonic turned his head when he caught a flash of green, “Wait.”

“What?” Chuck stopped, “Change your mind already?”

“No, look…” Sonic jumped down to follow the glimmer. It led into an old building, which was covered in posters and brochures of a place called, “Mystic Ruins”. It sounded familiar, maybe it has something to do with Angel Island? Considering all the references to it he could see on some of the posters.

“Is…” Chuck gently pushed the door open.

_“Who’s there!?”_

They stopped.

Chuck’s lips barely moved when he said, _“A kid…?”_

It did sound like the voice of a child. Maybe around the same age as Sonic, even. Sonic carefully pushed the rest of the way into the room, “Hey, we’re not here to hurt you, I just…”

“You’re a liar!” Sonic found the source of the voice; An 11-year-old echidna with red fur and striking violet eyes, “You’re here for the Master Emerald, aren’t you!? Well, you won’t have it! I won’t let you!”

“The…” Sonic finally realized why the green glimmer was so striking to him, “Of course...that's…”

“I won't let you have it! Never!”

As light cast over the room from the open doorway, it was clear that Knuckles was both sick and hurt. Blood clung to his skin and open wounds filled with white fluid decorated his arms and legs. He had muscle, but it was dispersed by tight skin that showed off a few ribs underneath. His boxer gloves were ripped and bloody. His dreadlocks were hacked short.

Sonic shrugged towards Chuck. They couldn't just leave him here. He was alone, injured, and starving, but with how wild and frantic he was, how would they be able to help him?

“Kid.” the echidna flinched when Chuck spoke, even though his voice was soft, “You're hurt. We aren't here for the emerald. We didn't even know it was here.”

The echidna's eyes softened when they landed on Tails, still fast asleep in Chuck's arm. Chuck reached out with his free arm, “Let us help you. You're in no condition to protect that emerald anyway.”

The kid finally relaxed, collapsing under the weight of his pain and exhaustion, “Please don't take the emerald, sir. I can't let that Robotnik get his hands on it again.”

Chuck let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, “Trust me, champ. We don't even want that emerald.” the poor echidna child didn't seem too comforted by those words, but he was too weak to argue, “Sonic, I know you're tired, but can you go get the first aid kit and some extra sandwiches from the Tornado?”

Sonic gave a slow nod. Running to the plane and back was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was back with the first aid kit before the others even realized he was gone. They were close to Green Hill after all, where they'd left the plane when they started their search through the city.

“Thank you, my boy.” Chuck took the small case from his nephew, who sat down on the echidna's other side with the picnic basket while Chuck got to work on the open wounds.

“Here.” Sonic shakily offered a sandwich to the echidna, who took it gratefully, “What’s your name?”

The child grit his teeth when Chuck brushed some rubbing alcohol over his infected wounds, blinking a couple tears away before he gruffly mumbled, “Knuckles.”

“Knuckles?” Sonic massaged his sore ankle, “Like the Knuckles Clan?”

Knuckles shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth, “Mhm.”

Chuck finished bandaging the first set of injuries, “You're lucky you don't have any broken bones, kid. I'm not good at setting those.”

Knuckles cast his gaze down at the ground. Sonic couldn't suppress a yawn.

“It's gotten so late.” Chuck sighed, “I'll take care of the rest of your wounds, and then we'll go to sleep.”

“B-but…” Knuckles looked back at the glowing Master Emerald.

“It won't get stolen.” Chuck got up to carefully close the door, “I'll stay awake as long as I can. You need to sleep.”

“No.” Knuckles growled under his breath, “I just met you! How do I know I can trust you not to take the emerald while I'm asleep?”

Chuck massaged his forehead, “I suppose you can't know for sure, but if it would make you feel better, I'll sleep by the door, and you can sleep on the emerald. Is that fair?”

Knuckles squeezed his eyes shut. Chuck took that as his opportunity to dress the rest of Knuckles’ wounds, making sure they would be shielded from the filth of the building as much as possible while they healed.

When Chuck was done he gestured towards his nephew, “Sonic, come here.”

Tails hadn't stirred at all while he slept over Chuck’s shoulder. Chuck lay by the door, and Sonic curled up by his side. Knuckles climbed onto the Master Emerald. It wouldn't be hard for him, he was used to sleeping on the powerful gem, but this time, it made him feel a little lonely.

Finally, after 10 minutes of failing to sleep because he was in so much pain, he climbed down and carefully nuzzled against Chuck's head. It was then he finally found an escape in his sleep.

***


	3. Chapter 3

**July - Year 0**

Knuckles was getting a lot better overtime. His wounds had closed up (though they would easily leave ugly scars), his emaciated frame was slowly gaining bulk as he ate, and he was clearly gaining strength he could use to protect the Master Emerald. He was also bonding with Sonic and Tails, and was even referring to Chuck as “Uncle”. He didn't mind, of course. A lot of people thought of him as their uncle, even when they weren't related.

“So, why are you here if you know it's so dangerous?”

Sonic had been explaining his current mission to Knuckles while they sat atop the Master Emerald. Knuckles didn't fully trust him yet, but it's not like Sonic could leave with the emerald while Knuckles was right next to him, “Because I'm looking for my siblings. Do you have any idea where they could be?”

Knuckles brought a fist to his chin, wearing brand new spiked boxer gloves, “Do you know their names? Or what they look like?”

“I have a brother and a sister.” Sonic explained, “We haven't seen them in years, but we're triplets, so we’re all the same age. The sister is purple and her name is Sonia. The brother is green, and he's called Manik.”

“That...” Knuckles frowned, “That sounds really familiar.”

A flicker of hope fluttered in Sonic's chest, “Really?”

“Yeah. Vaguely. I don't know for sure, because I've only lived here a couple years, but there's this group of crazy kids led by a green hedgehog with the name Manik. As for Sonia, I think she was adopted by this old rich couple by the border leading to the chemical plant.”

Sonic stood up to stretch his legs. He couldn't explain it, but he felt so safe and strong when he was near the Master Emerald, “Well, me, Chuck, and Tails are gonna go look for them. Good luck guarding the emerald.”

“Thanks, man.” Knuckles waved as Sonic jumped down and sped off.

He hadn't taken two steps outside the building when he was painfully pinned against the ground.

“Where do you think you're going, knockoff!?”

Sonic blinked up at the voice. A much older-looking green hedgehog with a ripped leather jacket had his hands around Sonic’s throat. Sonic tried grabbing at the hands, but without much luck.

“Sonic!”

The green hedgehog turned to the voice of Uncle Chuck, Tails close behind, “Back off, old man! You’re on my turf now!”

“Ah, but Scourge.” Chuck wore a dark expression that Sonic had never seen on him before, “You’re forgetting that you’re strangling _my_ nephew. I don’t care who’s _‘turf’_ we’re on, I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Did you forget our history!?” Scourge dropped his hold on Sonic, “You’re in no position to be threatening me.”

“I think I can handle myself just fine, _kid.”_ Chuck punched his open palm, “I’ll fight you if I must, but I would recommend you leave to save yourself the pain and embarrassment.”

“Funny.” Scourge smiled, showing off a pristine row of crystal-white teeth, “I was just gonna say the same about you…”

_“Leave them alone, Scourge!”_

“Hm?” The whole group turned to the new voice. Another green hedgehog with similar blue eyes to Chuck. He carried a pair of drumsticks in one arm and wore a red vest with deep pockets. Several children followed close behind him, including a pink hedgehog with an orange skirt and green sneakers.

“Stop threatening people just because they look at you. Trust me, it's not hard to avoid your ugly face.” Manik had spiky bangs that were swept back by a pair of red sunglasses, but Sonic suspected they hung in front of his eyes most of the time.

Scourge growled, “You again!? I thought I told you to get lost, pipsqueak!”

“I'm not good at following directions.” Manik spun one of his drumsticks around his hands, which sported black fingerless gloves, “But I suspected you'd be out of your cave to keep your new friends in line, right?”

He was acting way too confident for how much power he had over Scourge, because if he was Sonic's brother, it meant he was only ten, but considering how Scourge eyed Manik's drumsticks warily, Sonic wondered if Manik had more power than he was letting on.

“So. What'll it be this time?” Manik began to tap a rhythm on his knee, “I'm good at rock-and-roll, but as you know, I take other requests...”

“Dammit! Who gave you those stupid sticks anyway!?” Scourge looked back at Chuck, then Sonic before he bolted, _“This isn't over!”_

Sonic slowly sat up, rubbing his neck as Chuck helped him to his feet, “Are you alright, Sonic?”

“Y-yeah…” Sonic pushed away from Chuck to approach Manik, “Thanks for that.”

“No problem.” Manik shoved his hands in his pockets, “Say, you look familiar. Have we met before?”

Sonic turned back to Chuck, as if asking for an appropriate explanation.

Chuck blinked, “Manik.” he knelt down in front of Manik so they were on eye-level, “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

“Huh?” Manik brandished his drumsticks, which buzzed from his anxiety, “H-how d’you know my name? Who are you?”

Chuck smiled patiently, “I’m your uncle. My name is Chuck.” he placed a hand on Sonic’s back, “And this is my nephew. Your brother, Sonic.”

Sonic gave a sheepish wave, but Manik didn’t drop his stance.

“S-Sonic...?” Tails ran to Sonic to grip his hand tightly. Manik looked at him in confusion.

“Kid, what are you doing here?”

Tails tangled his other hand in one of his tails, “We were supposed to find you.”

“Tails, you know him?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah. Kind of.” Tails looked away, “We only met once. I wasn’t even sure if he still lived around here.”

“Tails, you shouldn’t be out here at night. It’s not safe.” Manik said.

“No but, it’s fine!” Tails was practically glued to Sonic’s side, “I’ve been with them for almost a month. They don’t mean any harm, I swear.”

Manik glanced up at Sonic, then back down at Tails.

“Well...” Manik’s hands went back in his pockets, addressing Sonic and Chuck this time, “I know Tails is young, but he has good judgement. If he says you’re good people after that long, then that’s good enough for me.”

Sonic sighed in relief, one hand on his chest.

“Then it seems we’ve reunited at last.” Chuck stood up to survey the area, “You guys need to stay with us. Do you have a home around here?”

“I mean, it’s not so much a home as it is a collection of run-down suburban houses.” Manik turned to the others, “We don’t have other plans, right?”

Some of the group, two of which appeared to be a red armadillo and an orange flying squirrel, shook their heads no.

“Then it’s settled. We room with the old man!”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m younger than I look, kiddo!”

Sonic watched them bicker for a moment before he looked down at Tails, who gave a single nod.

“Manik.” Sonic said, “We have a sister, too. We need to find her.”

“We do?” Manik tapped his foot, “What’s her name?”

“Sonia?”

“Pfft. Figures.” Manik rolled his eyes, “She’s the daughter of the richest people in town. The only people with more power than them is Robotnik himself.”

“What?” Sonic ran a hand over his temples, “Then how do we get to her?”

“I say don’t bother, my man.” Manik shot a glare at his brother, “Those guys are bad news. All of ‘em. Even if Sonia isn’t really related to them, they _must_ have rubbed their sick ideology on her. The rich are never good people.”

Sonic’s heart sank. He knew this wasn’t true, because he knew people back in Station Square where Chuck raised him. Rich people, poor people, it didn’t matter. There were good and bad people in every group. The mayor had even opened his storehouses to the public when a hurricane destroyed the entire beachside settlement. But if Manik was grounded in this way of thinking, how could they change his mind?

“Chuck.” Sonic turned to his uncle, “Is that true? Are those rich guys bad?”

Chuck bit his lip, scratching his cheek in thought, “I honestly don’t know, Sonic. I’ve never met them before.”

“You don’t have to.” Manik spat, irritated, “They own a _monopoly_ on the whole city! They don’t care about the scum beneath their feet! Hell, my dad’s business had to shut down because nobody can even afford _food_ anymore!”

That did sound condemning all right. A knot formed in Sonic’s stomach.

“How do you know the entire economy runs under their control?” Chuck crossed his arms, “It could easily be Robotnik doing that.”

Manik’s sure expression fell, “Um…”

“Furthermore, just because you’ve had some rough encounters with rich folks in the past doesn’t mean all rich people are bad. Greed can corrupt, yes, but remember that you don’t have to be rich to be greedy.”

Manik scuffed his shoe on the ground, “Still. It can’t be a coincidence that every rich person I’ve ever met is a greedy scumbag.”

“But Manik, it _could_ be a coincidence.” Chuck continued, “You don’t know that.”

“Well if Robotnik is the one controlling the city then why are _they_ allowed to have so much more than the rest of us!?” Manik’s face was turning red from rage, but there were also tears forming in his eyes, “Wouldn’t he just take from everyone equally!?”

“Maybe he is, Manik.” Chuck’s voice softened when Manik began to cry, kneeling down again to place his hands on the poor boy’s shoulders, “Remember, they could have been far more rich in the past when everyone else had enough. If he took from everyone equally, then they could still be rich, just not as rich as they used to be.”

“B-but…” Manik sniffed, furiously rubbing his eyes.

Chuck pulled him into a tentative hug, “I’m so sorry you’ve been through so much, Manik. That wasn’t fair, and you deserved better, but place the blame on the ones who have really wronged you, not on the distant rich people you’ve never even met.”

The group was quiet, aside from Manik’s hushed sobbing. Sonic hadn’t even considered that his siblings would be suffering like this when he’d had such a happy childhood. He knew they were probably being hunted by Robotnik, sure, but he didn’t realize they could be in such bad shape that they hardly even had food on the table. It made a painful lump form in his throat.

Manik pulled his sunglasses off so his bangs hid his eyes. A steady rain began to fall around them, punctuating their dreary conversation.

“Come on.” Chuck gestured to the building where Knuckles was still guarding the emerald, “Let’s get out of this rain.”

***


	4. Chapter 4

**August - Year 0**

It had been ten years since his mothers had died.

Sonic sat on top of their claimed building while he thought about all that had happened to him since his tenth birthday. Chuck had told him that he was two months old when the city had been ransacked, and everything was destroyed. It was once a bustling metropolis, but all of that was in the past. Aleena and Bernadette had been so proud of their three children, and they wanted only the best life for them.

Why did it have to end like this? Why did Robotnik come for him?

“Hey.”

Sonic didn’t even look up in his sulking, “Hi, Manik.”

Manik sat next to him, looking out over the sunset. It would probably be their last bits of warm sunshine before it gave way to autumn leaves and winter snow.

“I used to dread this time of year.” Manik hid his face in his arms, “I used to wonder what happened to my real parents, and why they were gone. Winter is the worst, see? Because all the plants die.”

Sonic sat cross-legged, his thumbs twisting together, “Not die. They just go to sleep.”

“No, Sonic.” Manik hugged his legs close to his body, “They _die._ I know, because I would watch them over spring, _and they didn’t wake up...”_

Sonic felt that pit in his stomach. The one he always felt when he wanted to offer comfort but just didn’t know how. It made him feel powerless. What kind of hero couldn’t help people? The thought made his middle twist into painful knots.

“I’m sorry, Manik.”

Manik didn’t reply. He just hid behind a mess of unruly green bangs.

Sonic rested his forehead in his hands, his elbows on his knees, “So...” he let out a slow breath of air, “Do you want to find our sister?”

Manik growled in frustration, “Sonic, I don’t know! I just, I don’t know. _You_ can go looking for her, but honestly, you probably won’t even make it to the front door!”

Sonic winced at Manik’s outburst, who then ran his palm across his closed eyes, “Sorry. I just...I’m not used to this.”

Sonic leaned forward, lacing his fingers together, “Honestly? Neither am I.”

Manik laughed, gasping a bit through his teeth, “At least we can be confused together.”

Sonic smiled uneasily. His reaction to all of this was clearly not as strong as Manik’s. He obviously had a lot of trauma that he’d been ignoring for a long time, and Sonic just didn’t know how to wrap his head around that. Or how to help.

“We have to try.” Sonic tenderly took his brother’s hand to give it a gentle squeeze, “We owe it to the moms who died for us.”

Manik looked up at Sonic, his gaze softened, “We had two moms?”

Sonic smiled, “Yeah.”

“And...” Manik pondered this for awhile, “...they died for us?”

“Yeah.” Sonic wrapped both his hands around Manik’s calloused one, still nested in its black glove, “We should at least find her. Make sure she’s okay. She’s related to us, right? How bad could she be?”

Manik scratched his head, “You know what? You’re right. At least then I’ll have closure.”

Sonic helped Manik stand up, “Awesome. Let’s grab Chuck and we can go before the sun sets.”

“Okay, I get it.” Manik took a deep breath, collecting himself, “He told me you would be a hero one day. Did you know that?”

“Yeah.” Sonic jumped up to warm up his legs, “I’m going to be a hero. Chuck tells me that every day. I’m going to be extraordinary.”

Before they could ask Chuck to join them though, one of Manik’s rascals stepped forward, the pink hedgehog with the green sneakers.

“Hey, Rosy. What’s up?”

“Um...” she tugged on the ties of her cute green blouse, “Can I go with you?”

It struck Sonic in that moment that this pink hedgehog, Rosy, was... _really familiar_ to him. He'd seen her somewhere before, surely, but where?

“Oh, um.” Manik scratched his head, “Okay, but it might be dangerous...”

“I'll be careful! I promise!” Rosy stood by sonic, then she scooted away, tucking a stray quill behind her orange headband.

“Well, okay.” Manik started walking, gripping his drumsticks tightly in one hand, “I'll lead the way. I know that area well.”

Sonic didn't have the time to question why Manik would know the rich neighborhood well, because both Manik and Rosy were just as fast as him and they made it there in a flash. The first thing Sonic noticed upon entering the supposedly _“rich-as-heck neighborhood”_ was that almost every single street light was broken. It made the whole street look like some crusty alley as opposed to an open neighborhood with rich houses. Sonic tried to be brave, but it was making him feel kind of unsafe. Manik strode forward like it was no big deal, but Rosy clung to Sonic’s arm, her jade-green eyes sweeping back and forth nervously.

“Uh, Manik.” Sonic pulled Rosy forward, understanding why she was so anxious and not wanting to leave her behind, “Are you sure we're in the right place?”

“Sonic, I grew up hating these people for what they did to me and my dad what do you think.” Manik didn't even turn around when he answered that question, and his tone of voice must have been off, because Rosy hid herself further behind Sonic.

“Um, okay...?” Sonic caught up to Manik, but his expression was one of carefree indifference, as opposed to the low threatening tone he'd spoken with.

“You know, Rosy doesn't usually come with me on my solo missions.” Manik commented off-handedly, “She usually likes to stay with the younger kids in our group so she can keep them safe. She must really like you.”

A furious red blush covered Rosy's face, “Shut up, Manik!”

“Haha! She's such a cutie.” Manik continued forward, tapping his drumsticks together absentmindedly, “Don't let her charming looks fool you, though. She has the heart of a fighter.”

Rosy grinned through her blush, but didn't otherwise react as the three of them continued forward.

“Here we are.” Manik cringed, “Whoa. What happened here?”

Sonic understood the confusion, the biggest house on the block was also the most run-down. It looked like it was once quite grand, but in its current state, it just looked sad.

Manik approached the building cautiously, peering into one of the broken windows to see on the inside. What was interesting to Sonic was that Manik's expression was one of...guilt? Maybe for assuming these people were the reason for his trauma?

The door suddenly opened, making the group jump out of their skin, “Would you three like to come in?”

It was a butler, a plant-like mobian to be exact, but his suit was dirty. Manik was in shock, and Sonic was feeling his hand grow numb from Rosy squeezing it.

Inside looked more or less the same as the outside. It appeared as if an effort was made to keep the place clean, but nothing really shone like you would expect in such a spacious house. The butler went up the stairs, coming back with one purple hedgehog, and a much taller blue and green plant-like woman with a large flower on top of her head like a crown. She carried an air of grace, seemingly light enough to float down the stairs as if she was being carried by the wind itself. Sonic briefly wondered if his birth moms were anything like her.

“Not now, Sonia. We have guests. And remember, no climbing in the rafters. I've told you that's dangerous.”

“Children, this is Lady Earthia.” The butler left, leaving the five of them alone.

“Ah, child.” Earthia addressed Manik first, “You've never come inside this way before. How are you?”

Manik opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

“Uh, Mother?” Sonia asked, “Who are they?”

“Hm.” Earthia crossed her dainty hands, “I Don't recognize those two, but this one has been around a lot.”

“Wait.” Sonic connected the dots in his head, “Manik, you haven’t stolen anything from here, have you?”

Manik's face flushed with embarrassment, “No! Of course not!”

“It's alright, child.” Earthia said, “Perhaps I should have said something before, but I didn't have the heart to stop you. I was poor myself once, so I understand.”

Manik bit down on his fingernails. While he was lost in his dilemma, Sonic decided to take over.

“We came here because we're looking for our sister.” he kept one of his hands around Rosy's as he spoke, “Her name is Sonia?”

“Me?” Sonia stepped forward and Sonic finally got a good look at her. She had short bangs like Rosy, and her eyes were the same emerald green as Sonic's. She wore a black and purple dress with matching knee-high boots, and dark-colored jewelry adorned her neck and wrists.

Earthia looked at Sonia with wide eyes, “You never told me you have siblings.”

“I...” Sonia scratched her head, “I didn't know...”

“It's been a long time, my dear.”

Sonic jumped. He'd forgotten that Chuck was still following close behind them through the streets.

“Huh? Who are you?” Sonia said.

Chuck smiled, “I'm your uncle, Sonia. And these two boys are your brothers. My name is Chuck.”

Earthia sighed, “I always feared this day would come.”

Sonia blinked, “Y-you mean...when my birth family came for me?”

“Yes.” Earthia gracefully kneeled down to hold Sonia's face, “But I leave the choice to you, sweetheart. You can stay with me if you like, but I know your desire to save this metropolis from the clutches of Robotnik. I would want you to stay here of course, but don't let me sway your choice.”

Sonia's heart fluttered. It seemed heroism ran in Sonic's family, but she was also clearly conflicted.

“Will you be okay?”

Earthia gave Sonia a smile that was gentle, and warm, “You know that I can handle myself, sweetheart.”

Sonia took a deep breath, “And they're not lying?”

“No.” Earthia assured.

She didn't further explain how she knew they weren't lying, but considering how well she carried herself and how Sonic's soul seemed to resonate with her the same way it did with the Master Emerald, he wondered if she had a connection to Chaos or its power. Did that mean _he_ did too?

“Well, if you’re sure...” Sonia jumped in the air and gave a thumbs up, “Robotnik needs to be stopped. We might as well do it together!”

Sonic celebrated with the others at first, but then that twisty feeling in his stomach came back. Stop Robotnik? Is that why he was doing this? He just wanted to reunite his family, he didn't think he would be going up against the head honcho so fast. When nobody was watching, he slipped out of the estate to collect his thoughts. The eerie quiet was already making his ears ring, but at least out here he didn't feel so suffocated.

He knew it was dangerous out here, so he climbed up the ivy growing between the bricks of the old mansion. It would be harder to find him from a higher vantage point, he reasoned. The stone of the old building was cold underneath him, which made him rub his hands together and flatten his ears against his head for warmth. He'd succeeded, right? Well, he wanted to get rid of Robotnik of course, but so soon? He was still only ten years old, what could he really do? At first, all he wanted was to make sure his siblings were still alive, but after seeing the terrible conditions that such little kids were forced to live in, could he really leave them like this? Was that fair at all? He had to do _something._ But, Robotnik...

_“Sonic!”_

Sonic started, looking over the edge of the roof. Chuck must have realized he was gone, because he was nervously looking all around the broad street for his nephew.

“Um, Chuck!” Sonic waved, “Up here!”

Chuck's attention snapped to him, “Sonic.” he jumped up the wall to join Sonic on the rooftop, “Yeesh, don't scare me like that. I thought you'd been kidnapped.”

Sonic averted his gaze to his scuffed sneakers, _“Sorry...”_

Chuck sighed, sitting down next to Sonic to wrap one arm around him, “Hey, what's wrong?”

Sonic leaned into Chuck, hugging his knees close to himself, “Are we really going up against Robotnik?”

“Oh, my boy.” Chuck began stroking Sonic's head as he nuzzled closer to his uncle, “You won't be alone. None of us will be.”

“Well yeah, I know, but...” Sonic crossed his arms, “I just feel like it's all going too fast. I don't feel ready.”

“We aren't going against him tomorrow, Sonic.” Chuck turned to look over the skyline, which was in total darkness by now, “We have time to prepare. We can find better lives for these children, we can be heroes without having to fight. And if we do fight, it'll be against those smaller guys, and we'll do it together. You got that, kiddo?”

Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat, “Is it okay that I'm still kinda scared?”

“Yes, of course.” Chuck pulled Sonic into a hug, “Everyone is scared sometimes, even heroes.”

Sonic closed his eyes as Chuck held him, “Yeah.” he took a deep breath, “Okay. Thanks, Chuck.”

“No problem.” Chuck pulled Sonic to his feet, “Now, we actually have a request from Lady Earthia. Would you like to hear it?”

“Sonic? Chuck?”

Rosy. Sonic and Chuck looked out onto the street to find the group had left the house and was looking for the other two. Chuck tilted his head towards them before he jumped down. Sonic was quick to follow.

“Oh, hey.” Manik stood defensively with his drumsticks, “We should get back to the rascals. We've been away for too long.”

Rosy clung to Sonic's hand again, but he didn't mind. They talked as they headed back, not running, but certainly at a brisk walk.

“So, what was that request?” Sonic asked.

“Oh, right.” Chuck could walk a lot faster than the kids because he was so tall, but he tried not to walk ahead of them, “Lady Earthia asked that we keep an eye out for her daughters.”

“Galaxina and Cosmo, she said.” Manik added, “Says she hasn't seen them in years.”

“She told me all about it.” Sonia said, “Years ago. Her ex-husband ran off with those kids after they had a bad argument, and she never saw them again.”

“I can't stand people like that.”

Sonic turned to face Rosy, who still tightly gripped his hand, but she wasn't facing him.

“I know.” Sonia scowled as they turned the corner, “Mother has never done anything to deserve that. She loved her own girls with everything she had.”

Sonic pondered this as they walked, their temporary base coming into view from between the other buildings.

***


	5. Chapter 5

**September - Year 0**

The group approached the building where Knuckles was dozing atop the emerald while Manik's group of rascals sat in a circle. They'd done a few more sweeps of the city since reuniting with Sonia, but they came back empty handed. The oldest in the group, the red armadillo, stood up to greet Manik.

“Hey, Mighty. Status?”

“All clear.” was his reply, “Though, some of the younger kids are getting homesick.”

“Then we'd better move.” Manik turned to his newfound siblings, “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.” Sonic said, uneasy.

“No, guys, we're going to have to head to the slums, where my dad lives.” Manik explained, “Some of these little guys do have parents, and I'd hate to betray their trust by keeping them too long.”

Sonia's face scrunched up in confusion, “What kind of parents just let their kids run around with other kids in such a bad place?”

“Mighty, mostly.” Manik turned to the kid in question, who had begun playing patty-cake with a 1-year-old rabbit, “He's turning thirteen soon, and he's a total pacifist. He's strong enough to toss around huge blocks of concrete, but he's so good with kids.”

“But still, it's not really safe-!”

“Plus.” Manik continued, “I have my special drumsticks, which always keeps trouble away. Not to mention that most people around here are either sick or too poor to even feed them most of the time. And the worst part?” Manik turned away from the group so they couldn't see his expression, “Robotnik turns people into robot slaves. Most of these kids are orphans.”

Sonia wanted to say something more, Sonic could tell, but she was at a loss for words.

“These parents trust me, Sonia.” Manik drummed his fingers on his knee, “Don't downplay that trust.”

Sonic thought it was weird too, but he couldn't deny how nervous Scourge had been just around those drumsticks, and their group must be formidable if their oldest member could throw concrete.

Sonia crossed her arms, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, “That's not what I meant, Manik.”

His grip on those drumsticks grew even tighter, “I know.”

Chuck stuck his head inside the building, “The coast is clear.”

“Great.” Manik motioned for Mighty, “Let's go.”

Knuckles stayed behind, but everyone else decided to leave with the rascals. They walked in relative silence, only stopping at the occasional stray pup, or members of Scourge's little gang. Pretty soon, the dead streets gave way to slightly more lively streets with friendly-looking people. They were jumpy though. Some stopped to wave at Manik and his friends, but others hid their faces beneath thick cloaks and hats.

Manik ducked his head into one of the doorless huts and knocked on the wall, “Dad?”

When there was no answer, he motioned for everyone to follow him inside. Shelves lined the walls covered with old grimy knick-knacks, suggesting this was once a store, but it was so broken and dirty that it could have been anything before Robotnik's attack.

 _“No, Charmy. I already told you, we're waiting for Manik to come back._ Then _we can go.”_

Hushed voices came from the back room, which was probably a supply room at some point judging by all the boxes. A crocodile wearing gold chains was the one who had spoken, to a hovering bee from the looks of it.

“Dad.” Manik snapped his fingers, but neither the crocodile nor the bee responded. Finally, he cupped his hands around his mouth, “DAD!”

Both of them jumped. The crocodile got a huge smile on his face when his eyes fell on Manik, “Kid! What's up!?” he ruffled Manik's bangs, “Made some new friends already?”

Tails hung back, “Vector is your _dad?”_

Vector grimaced, “I didn't ask him to call me that. I'm just the guy that found his basket, I'm not really his father.”

“Yeah, whatever you say, man.” Manik gestured towards his siblings, “Vector, this is Sonic and Sonia. They're my siblings, like, my _real_ ones.”

“I see.” Vector pointed to Chuck, “Then who's that guy?”

“That's my uncle. He raised Sonic.”

Vector seemed suspicious for some reason, but he didn't push anything.

“Anyway, this is Charmy.” Manik shifted to the bee, who gave an enthusiastic wave, “He's like my brother.”

“Nice to meetcha! Charmy Bee, that's me!”

“Um, Vector.” Sonic realized he had a burning question, “Were you the one who gave Manik those drumsticks?”

“Uh...” Vector scratched his head, “Actually, they were in his baby bundle when I found him. I always assumed they were a family heirloom or something, so I never had the heart to sell ‘em.”

An heirloom? Then...wait, Sonic had something like that. A medallion that was shaped like a guitar. Could it be...?

An explosion shook the ground from outside, causing one of the storage boxes to fall on its side. Charmy yelped.

“What is it this time!?” Vector stormed out of the hut, everyone else close behind, “I swear, if it's that Scourge punk again-!”

Sonic suddenly found himself pinned to a wall, hard metal hands around his neck.

 _So,_ Sonic heard a buzzing, robotic voice ring in his ears, _You're finally back..._

“What _is_ that!?”

Sonic struggled to open his eyes against the light while distant screams echoed in his head. When he could pull the robotic hands away from his throat, his emerald-green eyes met deep red ones. He began to shake when he realized; It was another Sonic, but it was wrong. The legs were too thin, the quills were too stiff. Things like that. Little things that were just _so wrong._

“Sonic!”

The Metal Sonic turned to Uncle Chuck, who charged at the robot. Metal dropped Sonic to rush at the older hedgehog, his hands poised to kill.

“Chuck, _WAIT!”_ Manik snapped his drumsticks and Metal was swept up in a beam of light, a steady rhythm banging on invisible drums. Metal hit his head on a concrete staircase, and his red eyes glitched as he cried out in pain.

Sonic felt light-headed as he forced himself to stand and hurry towards Chuck, who had been discarded by the curb.

“Chuck.” Sonic rolled him over so he was on his back, “Chuck?”

Chuck wasn't moving.

“Chuck?” Sonic shook him, “Please, Chuck, wake up. Don't...” he choked up. He placed his ear to Chuck's chest.

He wasn't breathing.

“No.” Sonic couldn't pay attention to what was happening around him. He didn't see Manik whack Metal over the head. He didn't see Mighty swing a metal bat at the attacker. He didn't even see when the fighting stopped, when Metal flew away, defeated, or when Tails placed a gentle hand on his clammy shoulder.

Sonic couldn't calm his shaking hands, _“No.”_ he held Chuck's head in his hands, “Chuck, Chuck wake up. Uncle Chuck. Please. Don't do this. You can't leave me now, you _can't.”_

The group gathered around him, realizing there was a casualty. They let Sonic ramble, not knowing how to proceed or what to do about the situation.

 _“You said you would always be here!”_ Sonic was shouting now, hurt and angry, _“You said you wouldn't leave me! You said we would be together! You lied! You're a liar! You lied to me, Chuck!”_ he began to shake the body of his former guardian, who still didn't move, _“Stop doing this to me! Stop lying! Stop hurting me! Don't leave me or I'll-!”_

“Kid!” Vector tugged Sonic away from the body, making his stomach lurch, “Keep doing that and you'll hurt yourself too!”

Sonic burst into tears, burying his face in Vector's shoulder as his throat completely closed up. Why did it hurt so much!? Why did it feel like someone had stabbed him through his heart!? It was like there was a void where a blood vessel used to be. Is this what it felt like when various vital organs were missing? Is this what it felt like to be dying?

 _Was_ he dying? He couldn't even tell. His tears were blinding him and his ears were roaring like he was drowning. He didn't know what to do. What _could_ he do? Could he do _anything_ at this point? Was it too late?

“Hey, Sonic.” Vector propped Sonic up on his knees, wiping a few of his tears away, “Can someone help me? Anyone got like, tissues or something? I ain't good at this comforting thing...”

“Yes you are, Dad.” Manik knelt down by his grieving brother, “Though, this is a special case, I suppose.”

“Sonic?”

Sonic let his chin be lifted by Rosy, who handed him a white handkerchief with pink lace. Sonic took it gratefully, dabbing at his eyes with it until he could see again.

“I know how you feel.” Rosy twisted her hands together, “That robot did the same thing to my mom. I'm so sorry.”

After his tears were cleared away, Sonic looked up into her eyes and was struck _again_ by just how _familiar_ she was. Why was she so familiar to him? Had they met before a long time ago and he just didn't remember?

While he was staring, she looked away, a blush coating her face. Sonic averted his gaze, sniffing with his face buried in the handkerchief as he found his voice, _“Sorry.”_

She backed away from him, “It's okay.”

Sonic opened his mouth to ask if they'd met before when Rosy was snatched from the ground. She screamed, and Sonic jumped to chase after her.

_I refuse to leave empty-handed._

Metal. He hadn't broken down after all.

“Give her back you, _you…”_ Sonic's voice cracked from the strain, _“Maniac!”_

Metal glared down at him dangerously.

_You want her? Come and get her, then._

Metal took off down the street, and Sonic ran as fast as he could after him.

“Kid, wait!” Vector cried.

“Sonic!” Manik jumped to lead the group, “Dad! Let's go!”

Sonic kept following Metal, even when the pressure was building. Even when his ankles cried out at him and his legs became stiff with pain, he didn't stop. He'd already just lost someone so dear to him, he wasn't going to lose another ally that easily.

Metal disappeared into Chemical Plant, and Sonic was about to jump after him when he froze. Terrible memories of being underwater resurfaced from the back of his mind when his eyes fell on that flowing pink water. Flashbacks of his nose and mouth gaping from the sensation, his burning lungs that would take no air. He was in a kind of pain like he was on fire, but the only color he could see was blue. He was tipping… _falling…_

“SONIC!”

Manik grabbed Sonic's arm. He had been teetering on the edge of the street where stone and brick gave way to the chemical waste the power plant was known for, and Manik had only just saved him from falling right in.

Sonic gasped, taking in huge gulps of air. He was lightheaded, hyperventilating, and only barely aware that he could still breathe.

“Sonic, it's okay!” Manik held his brother still, “You're here, you're alive. _You can breathe.”_

Sonic took in a few more gulps of precious oxygen before he was fully aware again. He _wasn't_ drowning. He was on solid ground, surrounded by air, and a bunch of friends who were staring at him with confusion and concern. He frowned in embarrassment, turning away and rubbing the back of his head.

“Kid, what happened?” Vector was the tallest, so he easily took up the most attention, “Are you afraid of water?”

It had never fully registered with Sonic, but after his extreme reaction to the idea of falling into the water, he realized that a lot of things he did were beginning to make sense. He'd only taken showers since he was three because he didn't like baths. He preferred to eat watery vegetables over drinking actual water. He couldn't stand being around lakes, rivers, or beaches, and he had the worst seasickness of anyone else he'd ever met. He never realized any of that was connected, because he'd never thought of them at the same time, but once it clicked, he couldn't think of it any other way.

“I...” Sonic brought a hand to his mouth, _“I think I am...”_

Tails peered over the edge of the street before taking Sonic's hand in his own, “It's okay. I'm scared of lots of things.”

Sonic let himself smile a little before he looked off at the building where Metal - and Rosy - were inside.

“Sorry, kid.” Vector steered the shaking boy away from the cliff, “We can't go in there today.”

Sonic was crushed, “But-!”

“If Metal was going to hurt her, he would have done that in front of us like he did with your uncle.” Vector tried to reason with the poor child as he slowly led their group back to the neighborhood, “He _wants_ you to follow him in there, and we _will,_ but we can't right now.”

Sonic realized what he was saying, they didn't have the resources to fight Metal in his own domain, but even though his heroic side was devastated, the side of him that feared water more than anything was relieved.

Still. With nothing else to occupy his time, he knew that he would have plenty of it to grieve over his Uncle Chuck.

***


	6. Chapter 6

**November - Year 0**

It had been several weeks after Rosy's kidnapping, and they were still no closer to getting her back.

Sonic hadn't noticed that during that whole episode, he still had Rosy's handkerchief gripped tightly in his fist. Upon closer inspection a few days later, a name was embroidered in fancy pink cursive near one of the lacy corners.

Rose.

It really got on his nerves, because that name sounded even more familiar than Rosy! Was Rose her real name? But that didn't seem right either. Was it a nickname? A family name? Was it originally someone else's handkerchief passed down to her as a gift? All these questions were just making him even more confused than before, and it certainly didn't help that he was also battling both Chuck's passing _and_ his newfound fear of water. Or, at least being _submerged_ in water. He wasn't afraid of rain or sprinklers after all, maybe that's why it took him so long just to realize that.

He just wasn't thinking about it the right way, was he? It was like the fear of water, he just needed that last piece of information for everything to click, but _Rose_ was so ambiguous and yet so _achingly familiar_ that trying to change the angle of his thinking was only stressing out his brain, and not getting him any closer to the answer.

Still. He was getting better. However slowly.

“Oh, my dear! That's terrible!”

Ah, that’s right. They were back at Lady Earthia's estate, and Sonia was filling her in on the happenings of the past few months.

“I wonder...” Earthia let her gaze drift out the window.

“Mother?” Sonia took Earthia's sleeve in her hand, “How do we get in?”

Earthia sighed, running her palm across her leafy face, “Sweetheart, if I knew how to enter that building, I would have done it a long time ago...”

Sonic crossed his arms, hanging by the edge of the doorway. He was already missing the way Rosy would cling to his arm, like an anchor in a storm. He wasn’t sure why she trusted him so much, but if she was so familiar to him...

_Wait..._

“Sonic?”

“Hm?” Sonic was reeled back into the conversation, “Tails?”

The 3-year-old fox was tugging on the cuff of his glove, “I said I think I know how to get inside!”

Sonic stood at attention, “You do!? How!?”

Tails shot him a smile before he began to spin his twin tails like rotary blades, until they were spinning around so fast the force was lifting him into the air! Tails flew around the room a few times before coming back down, landing in an olympic finishing stance.

“Tails…” Sonic blinked a few times before he swept up Tails in a hug and twirled him around, “Tails, that’s _amazing!”_ Tails laughed along with him until he was set down, “How did you do that? Why didn’t you say something before?”

That was when Tails lost his smile and turned away, _“I was scared you’d make fun of me for it...”_

“Aw, Tails...” Sonic gently shook the fox cub, who was now looking down, away from him, “Why would I make fun of you? I wish I could do that! You can get me into the plant! Over the water!”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa, hold up there, kid!” Vector had been quiet for the past several minutes, but now he was back in the fray, “You are _not_ just going to waltz in there with a crippling fear of water and no knowledge of the area! I’ve explained this to you!”

Sonic was beginning to dislike Vector’s constant presence over him, “Well jee, gramps. I don’t remember Chuck being this _bossy!”_

“Well _he’s not here right now!”_ Vector snapped, “I’m sorry, kid, but that place is dangerous enough without those other factors!”

“We’re never going to learn how the place works if we don’t at least get inside!” Sonic was feeling angry tears build up in his eyes, but he didn’t stop yelling, “And what’s Rosy gonna do if we never at least _try_ to save her!?”

The other kids were bunching around Mighty and Manik as the two angry mobians yelled at each other, the atmosphere hanging thicker and heavier the longer they talked.

“We _will_ save her, Sonic!” Vector continued, trying to keep his head cool but without much success, “I _swear_ we will get her out of there and she’ll be okay! But I’m not going to risk the lives of any more children while we figure out what we’re supposed to do!”

Sonic stopped, straightening out his posture while he stared at the crocodile. Vector waited for the retort, but it never came, and the uneasy silence drifted over the grand hall.

“Honestly, Vector.” a new voice, “You need to learn when to keep your mouth shut.”

A new person appeared, seemingly out of thin air, a purple chameleon with beady yellow eyes. His hands were in front of his face, like he was preparing for an attack, and when he moved, his body snapped into place, as if he wanted to spend as much time as possible staying perfectly still.

“Oh, there you are, Espio.” Vector’s anger fizzled away, “See, I _knew_ you were around here _somewhere.”_

“Wait, were you like...” Sonic stared at the newcomer in confusion, _“...watching_ us?”

“Are you surprised, Sonic?” Espio finally let himself relax, though his hands stayed in their careful position, “Always assume you’re being watched, child. You never know what could get back to your enemy.”

Sonic felt the quills on his back stand on end.

“Brilliant at first impressions as usual, I see.” Charmy’s voice reflected clear annoyance.

“It’s an important lesson, Charmy. And besides, I’m not visible most of the time anyway.”

Vector mumbled something under his breath, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

“Now, thanks to my gift.” Espio struck a ninja-like pose, “I’ve been through that entire facility, and I can say with certainty that I know the place inside and out.”

“What!? Espio, I told you it was dangerous!” Vector said.

“And I heeded that warning.” Espio shot a glare at Vector, “I have _never_ dropped my disguise while inside.”

“But what if you had, just by accident!?”

“I am disciplined as hell, Vector. I promise, I’ve worked on this ability my entire life!”

“But-!”

“Oh for crying out loud!” Charmy flew into Vector’s face, “You can’t shelter us forever, old man! If Espio can help us save that girl, then that’s something we can use to our advantage! Stop treating us like we’re made of glass!”

Vector snapped his maw shut, apparently not having a proper response to that.

“Wise words from someone so young.” Espio said, though Sonic thought that was funny, considering Espio himself only looked to be in his early teens at the oldest.

“But...” Vector lowered his voice, looking away to try and hide his expression, “I just don’t want to lose you guys...”

“I know, Vector.” Espio snapped to Vector’s position to lay a gentle hand on his arm, “But remember the girl; Rosy. She can’t stay in there forever.”

The silence hung over them like a blinding fog. Sonic held his breath, waiting for Vector to cave and let them go. He didn’t want to sabotage anything in case he was about to change his mind. Vector growled, a sound low in his throat.

“Fine.”

“Hm?” Espio backed away, balancing expertly on one foot, “Did you say something?”

“I said fine.” Vector waved his arm, “But I’m coming with you. Don’t make me regret this.”

The quickest of grins flickered across Espio’s face before he resumed his calm, practiced movements, “Trust me. We understand the danger. Why do you think I’m so good at staying hidden?”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Whatever.” Vector pushed past Sonic out the front door, “Get out of here already.”

Espio nodded before he disappeared again. Sonic tried to see where he’d disappeared to, but it was no use, the ninja was gone. It kind of gave him the creeps knowing he could be watched at any moment without being able to find his spectator.

“Don’t worry about him.” Charmy noticed Sonic’s apprehension on his way out, “You get used to it.”

***

Sonic’s heart was pounding as he looked out over the pink lakes and waterfalls leading into the building. It took a lot of concentration for him to focus solely on the building and not on the bottomless pit of water that roared beneath him. Vector had no qualms with the water, being a reptile, so he swam ahead, and now Sonic was just waiting for that cue from Espio that meant it was safe to enter.

Finally, he felt someone tap his shoulder, but saw nobody there. That was his cue.

He took off for the back entrance, which didn’t have as much water, and he carefully jumped along pipes and tiny platforms as long as possible before he couldn’t go any farther. That was why Vector was there.

“Kid!”

Sonic took a deep breath, then he jumped onto Vector’s back. He carried him as far as the door, and then he climbed out. Sonic was happy to be back on the concrete. This would have been easier with Tails, of course, but Vector insisted he was too young, and no amount of persuasion could make him change his mind on that. They were already walking on eggshells, he said.

“You alright?” Vector watched Sonic lean against the door frame.

“Y-yeah, just give me a second...” why was he _so scared_ of water? If he remembered correctly, nothing bad happened to him around water, his fear had started when he was too young to be around large bodies of water anyway, so what gave him such a crippling fear of something he had no reason to be so afraid of? He didn’t even know what drowning felt like, and yet that sensation of burning lungs felt so frighteningly real.

“Sonic!”

Sonic took a sharp intake of air, “Sorry.”

“Hey kid, you sure you’ll be alright?”

Sonic looked up a Vector, giving a wavering thumbs-up, “I’m fine, just...a little nauseous.” he straightened up carefully, turning his gaze to the bright fluorescent lights of the Chemical Plant, “Let’s go find Metal. And make him pay.”

“Now there’s an attitude that’ll get you somewhere.” Vector hurried inside, “You know what to do.”

Sonic nodded, speeding ahead to get the jump on Metal. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot of pink water on the upper levels of the facility, so as long as he stuck to each platform as he climbed, he wasn’t in danger of touching the water. His shoes had gotten wet from riding on Vector’s back across the lake, but they had dried by the time he made it to the end. There were a lot of winding pathways and corridors that led to dead ends, but just as he found himself becoming lost, he would get another tap on his shoulder, which let him know he was on the wrong path. If he started down a corridor and he got no shoulder taps, he would keep going. Finally, he found himself on a narrow path, which led onto a large platform that would be perfect for a battle on the ground.

_Hello, Sonic._

Sonic ground to a halt, turning around to find the source of the voice. It was so weird when Metal spoke to him, because he _swore_ he could hear it in his head, as if they were his own thoughts. His eyes finally fell on his metal doppelganger, staring down at him from an alcove. Standing just behind him, Rosy clung to his arm, her legs shaking from the sheer height of the drop should she fall.

_Glad you could finally make it._

Sonic shook the ringing from his ears, “Nice to see you again, fake me.”

Metal huffed, _You’re mistaken. I was built years before you were even born._

Sonic rolled his eyes, “Whatever. You’re not making it out of here anyway, unless you’re willing to hand over the girl...”

Metal’s metallic laugh reverberated off the inside of Sonic’s skull, _We’ll see about that..._

“Fine.” Sonic cracked his knuckles, “I came prepared, just in case.”

Metal dropped down to the level of the platform arena, _This will be so much fun..._

Sonic charged at him, but when Metal raised his hands, he remembered the way Metal had done the same to Uncle Chuck, and he panicked, jumping out of the way and stumbling on his feet until he rolled back into a standing position.

“Sonic!” Rosy had knelt down so she stood less chance of falling.

 _What’s the matter, Sonic?_ Metal cruelly flexed his sharp silver fingers, _Remembering your precious old man?_

Sonic’s anger spiked, and he charged again, but this time he was prepared for Metal to reach for him. He jumped over Metal’s outstretched hands, gripping his head and tossing him to the side. When Metal lifted his head to gauge where he’d fallen, Sonic rolled into a ball and gave him a swift kick in the jaw. Metal flew across the room, nearly falling off the platform before his boosters kicked in and he flew into the air. Espio had told him that the mark of a ninja was to be unpredictable. The second you begin to follow a pattern, you’re doing something wrong, which is why Sonic was trying to do things he wouldn’t normally do in a fight. It was something he needed to practice.

 _Impressive._ was all Metal said before he jumped back into the fight.

Sonic made a special effort to avoid Metal’s hands, as that seemed to be the reason Chuck had died, so when Metal reached out to him after he charged, Sonic grabbed Metal’s wrist and twisted his body so he was at Metal’s side, spinning him around until he could get a hit on Metal’s back, but he was ready for it this time. Metal yanked his wrist to the side, and Sonic didn’t have time to let go, so he was thrown in a circle until he hit the ground. His vision blacked out for a second, but he was able to roll out of the way before Metal could grind his foot into Sonic’s chest. He jumped up to grab Metal’s arms, spreading them so they missed his stomach, just barely managing to butt his head into Metal’s shoulder, then he crossed his arm over Metal’s neck.

“Give me the girl, Metal!”

 _Take her from me._ Metal threw a punch, and Sonic pushed Metal away from him. He tried to kick him again, but Metal grabbed his ankle and threw him across the ground.

 _Dammit, predictable!_ Sonic berated himself before he spun in a circle to kick Metal in his side. It worked, spinning him around so Sonic could land a few punches.

Sonic pushed Metal down, wrapping his hands around Metal’s throat, and began to squeeze. Harder and harder, until Metal’s eyes were glitching, and his screams echoed off the walls of the area. Finally, when he was about to sever vital wires and currents, he stopped.

 _What am I doing?_ Sonic’s goal was never to kill Metal, he was only here for Rosy. What was that feeling that Metal had to die? And more importantly, why was he doing it so violently? He was shocked back to the present when an immense fear filled his blood with ice, and he let up the pressure, trying to figure out what kind of mist was clouding his judgement.

That was all Metal needed. He grabbed Sonic, lifting him into the air by his neck. Sonic couldn’t breathe. He struggled to make a sound, to call out for Vector or Espio or even Tails, but he was already losing consciousness, and part of him was tempted to just give in so the pain would stop, but then he remembered Rosy, and he lashed out, trying his hardest to pull the hands away from his throat. He was about to try curling into a ball to spin out of the way when he realized the pressure on his throat was letting up, and he could see and breathe once again.

He looked down, and saw that Metal was still poised to kill him, one of his arms out to deliver the finishing blow, but some of Metal’s hold on him had shifted more to his chest and under his arms than on his neck, but that didn’t make sense either. If Metal was going to kill him, why hadn’t he done it yet? What was he waiting for?

Suddenly, something hit Metal in the forehead, and he dropped Sonic in shock. Sonic looked up at what had hit him; A metal shuriken. This was his opportunity, but he held back. Would he try to kill Metal again? Would he do it violently?

When Metal yanked the sharp weapon out of his head, Sonic realized, it didn’t matter. He didn’t have to kill Metal, but he had to make him yield, otherwise, he feared what would happen to Rosy.

Sonic risked a glance up at Rosy again, but she wasn’t there anymore. Where-?

“HEYYAH!”

He saw a flash of pink, and then Metal flew off the battlefield and into the water with a huge, _splash!_

Sonic couldn’t help but stare when Rosy looked up at him. She was holding the biggest red and yellow hammer he’d ever seen.

He gasped. Of course! How could he forget!?

The building began to crumble, and Rosy ran to Sonic, “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!”

_Good luck with that._

Sonic watched Metal fly into the air, still sparking from the water burns in his injuries. His face reflected pure unhinged rage. Sonic didn’t let himself think, he just grabbed Rosy and bolted for the exit.

“Espio!” Sonic knew Espio would kill him for blowing his cover, but he would never forgive himself if Espio didn’t make it out, “Espio, are you here!?”

He felt a forceful push against his back, and it encouraged him to run faster, “Yeah I get it, let’s just go!”

Sonic tried to speed up, but it was no use, the platforms were falling behind him as he ran. He wasn’t used to carrying someone while he was going this fast, and he was afraid of what might happen if he tripped before they found the exit.

_“Sonic!”_

Sonic fell head-first out of the building, realizing that he was heading for the water, and he and Rosy both screamed, their eyes shut as they braced for the impact. When they stopped falling with no splash, they opened their eyes.

“Tails!”

Tails had both his arms around Sonic’s waist, carefully lowering him to the ground before the rest of the facility could crumble beneath them. It didn’t totally fall, though, so at least that was a good sign, and Metal never emerged.

“Tails.” Sonic looked up at his friend, “You were supposed to stay behind, remember!?”

“But what if you got really hurt and nobody could get you out!?” Tails set them down.

“That was dangerous, kid!” Vector scolded Tails, “You’re such a tiny young sport, just leave it to us next time!”

“No! I’m a hero too!” Tails crossed his arms stubbornly, “You can’t stop me!”

Sonic wasn’t listening to their bickering, he just took Rosy’s hands in his own, “I’m so glad you’re safe, Amy!”

Rosy stared at him, her eyes as wide as flying saucers. Attention snapped to them, before Espio even had a chance to become visible and defend Tails.

“I can’t _believe_ I forgot about you!” Sonic pulled the handkerchief from his hammerspace pocket, “By the way, I believe this belongs to you.”

Rose. _Amy_ Rose. The reason she looked so familiar to him was because two new hedgehogs moved into his neighborhood in Station Square, years ago. One of them was a tall pink hedgehog with quills long enough to brush the ground, usually tied up in a thick ponytail, and a much smaller pink hedgehog in a stylish pink stroller. She was 4 at the time, when Sonic was 7, and they only disappeared when the much taller hedgehog was kidnapped, and her daughter - Amy - was left all alone.

Sonic felt bad for her, but what was he supposed to do? He never saw Amy again.

Tears gathered in Amy’s eyes when she was handed the special handkerchief, “You kept it...”

“Of course I did.” Sonic took her shaking hands in his when they bunched up into fists, “It’s special, isn’t it?”

Amy threw her arms around Sonic, sobbing into his shoulder, “I was afraid you wouldn’t remember me!”

Sonic held her close to himself, “I'm sorry. I should have seen it sooner.”

“You were so nice to me back then...” Amy's voice was so soft it made something pang in Sonic's heart, “And then I never saw you again, _and I just started to feel so hopeless after Metal got my mom...”_

“Hey, hey, I know.” Sonic started rubbing circles into Amy's back, “I'm sorry, _I'm so sorry...”_

They stayed like that, for a long while, until Vector gave a heavy sigh, “Come on. Let's go home.”

***


	7. Chapter 7

**December - Year 0**

Earthia was in hysterics when she found out what happened. Apparently, she hadn't expected the plan to go _nearly_ this badly, because she made it her personal mission to destroy Metal, but they hadn't seen him since the facility's collapse, and it reminded Earthia why she couldn't even be near it; The pink water was a hazard to plants. Sonic hadn't realized that she was _literally_ a plant, but maybe that explained why she was so light on her feet.

No wonder she’d never found her daughters, she was literally weaker and more tired if she couldn't be in the sunlight for most of the day.

“So Knuckles...” Sonic joined Knuckles on top of the Master Emerald, “Who gave you this job to watch the Master Emerald?”

Knuckles seemed annoyed by the question, but he answered simply, “The leader of a tribe.”

His injuries and infections had almost completely healed, so his trust in Sonic was growing, but that didn't mean the blue hedgehog wanted to push his luck. He crossed his legs, scratching a spot behind his ear, “So you _are_ from the Knuckles Tribe? The one from the stories?”

Sonic thought Knuckles would be proud of this, but instead, he dodged the question, “Kind of. I was named after it, but I was never a full member of that tribe. Not really.”

Before Sonic could form a new careful question in his head, the front door swung open.

“Guys!” Manik burst into their base of operations, red-faced and out of breath, “I know where Lady Earthia's daughters are!”

Sonia was the first to rush to her brother, “Really!?”

“Yeah! It makes so much sense!” Manik waved with his arm, pointing outside, “Let's go, bro! I'll tell you on the way!”

“Okay,” Sonic turned to Knuckles as he jumped down, “Talk to you later, man.”

“Yeah...” Knuckles mumbled, _“man...”_

Sonic joined his siblings outside, “Talk to me.”

“So Lady Earthia has searched everywhere for her daughters, right?” Manik didn't waste any time, it seemed, “Unless they’ve left the island completely, which is entirely possible to be fair, they must be somewhere in the facility, because otherwise Earthia would have found them by now.”

Sonic thought about that, “And if they _aren’t_ on the island?”

Manik shrugged, “I honestly don’t know, but if they aren’t here, then our search is going to last forever, but keep in mind, by the time Earthia lost her daughters to her ex-husband, the island was already in the complete control of Robotnik, so it’s kind of unlikely.”

Sonic shivered as the group’s feet began to crunch through the snow. He wasn’t entirely sure what month is was by now, but he thought it was December judging by the internal clock on the Tornado. He also remembered grabbing that medallion he remembered, shaped like a guitar with two fret boards. Sonia even had her own, shaped like a keyboard. Sonic only hoped these would help them at some point, especially considering how he and Metal seemed incapable of defeating each other for some reason.

“But Manik,” Sonia kicked a chunk of ice across the street, “How do you know that the ex-husband couldn’t leave the island? Do you just want to start small in case we don’t have to search the whole planet?”

Manik sighed, sitting down on a rusty bench, “Maybe. I know it’s a shaky starting point, but it’s all I can think of.”

Sonic was about to go back inside to ask the rest of the group for their opinion, but before he even got to the door, he was snatched out of the air by something - someone blue.

“SONIC!” Sonia and Manik shouted.

 _I will figure out what you’re doing to me._ Metal hit Sonic’s head hard enough to knock his vision out.

_And I will make you pay._

***

**December - Year 0**

The next thing Sonic knew was the overwhelming stench of rust. He tried to focus in the darkness of the room, only to realize that it was literally so dark he wouldn't be able to see. Trying to orient himself, he realized he was lying on his back, definitely not on anything meant to be laid on judging by the hardness of it. It didn't matter much to him, he could sleep on pretty much anything, but that wasn't the point. He tried to reel himself in. Focus. Where was he, and how could he get out of here?

_“Excellent work, Sonic! At this rate, absolute control will be ours for the taking!”_

Sonic shook his head. Wherever he was, it wasn’t safe, so he began the slow process of standing up and finding a wall in the darkness. His hands met metal bars, too close together to escape between, but at least he’d found the door.

“Oh look, he’s awake.” the lights flicked on and Sonic squinted against the harsh new light, “How are you feeling, hedgehog?”

Sonic’s eyes adjusted, and then he stared. Standing in front of him was a big round man with a bushy brown mustache. His tiny eyes were hidden behind blue glasses, held in place by thick bald eyebrows. Metal wasn’t far behind, his injuries repaired, with only some discolored paint to show he’d even been hurt.

The man laughed, “What’s the matter, hedgehog? Too impressed by the genius standing in front of you?”

Sonic narrowed his eyes, “Robotnik.”

“The one and only.” he replied, “To be honest, this isn’t how I expected to meet you this time, but I won’t complain. Seeing you so small and helpless is so refreshing!”

Sonic couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around that, “What are you _talking_ about!?”

“Hm?” Robotnik turned to Metal, “You mean you haven’t told him yet?”

Metal turned away in shame, _It wasn’t important at the time..._

“Well, in that case...” Robotnik grinned, showing off all his teeth, “I’ll let you figure that one out yourself! Oh this is so exciting! To have the upper hand after all this time!”

Sonic could feel the bile rising up his throat. He remembered when Metal had hit his head, and he felt up the side of his head, towards his ear. Sure enough, a large bump had formed there, and it hurt to the touch.

“Ah, well I’ve rambled enough. Enjoy your stay, Sonic the Hedgehog!” and with that, Robotnik nearly skipped to the exit, Metal close behind, “Did you see that, Sonic!? Unbelievable! It’s just like the good old days!”

The door shut behind them, and Sonic gripped the metal bars to stop his hands from shaking. Here he was, at the helm of all the horror stories he’d heard about the crazy dictator, and now that he’d finally met the man in question, he was feeling sick. Why did the man know him!? How did he know his name!? Why was he talking like they’d been old rivals from the beginning!? The questions churned through his head, one after the other, and the longer the silence stretched on, the louder Sonic’s thoughts rang in his head.

 _Now hold on, Sonic._ Sonic tried to calm himself, _This isn’t helping. You can find answers to those questions later, but you have to get out of here first._

His heartbeat in his ears was still too loud, but at least now he could get himself to think about his current predicament instead of falling backwards into his thoughts.

The lock. Sonic turned his attention to it. It wasn’t mechanical or wired or anything, it was just a basic prison cell lock. He forced himself to take a deep breath. This was good news. Manik had taught him how to lockpick on some of their downtime, so now was a good time to put those skills to the test. Pulling out the pick and a dull knife, he stuck them both in the lock and listened for the clicks. One two three, the pieces fell into place, but the lock still wouldn’t open. He was too rough near the end, and his first lockpick broke. He forced himself to breathe before he began to panic again. He still had like 23 left, it was no big deal if he lost a few. After a few more jingles, the door swung open, and Sonic strode out to collect his surroundings.

Before he had a chance to get out, he heard something. He froze and his ears perked up. It was so subtle, but it was there. If he wasn’t so paranoid, he was sure he would have missed it. It sounded like...a footstep?

Sonic took a moment to figure out where the noise had come from, then he kicked. His foot connected with something, and Espio flew across the room.

“Sonic, what the hell!?”

“Why does he know me!?” Sonic grabbed Espio’s upper arms, “Why are you here!? Did you do this!?”

Espio struggled against Sonic’s grip, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Why would I know any of that!? I just got here!”

Sonic was about to question him further, but Espio seemed genuinely shocked and hurt. Sonic held him another moment longer, then he let go.

“I’m sorry, Espio, I didn’t mean...”

Espio stood, rolling his shoulder, “It’s okay, but what was that about him knowing you? You said you’d never met.”

“That’s what I thought, but...” Sonic held his head with both hands, “God, Espio, he knew my name! He went after me when I was just a baby, he was talking to me like we were old rivals!”

“Hey, Sonic, it’s okay.”

Sonic shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Espio? Sonic?”

Sonic turned to where the big iron door had opened, and there was Tails, Amy, and Knuckles.

“Guys...” Sonic braced himself when Amy ran to him for a hug, “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think, airhead!?” Knuckles pushed the door open wider, “We’re here to rescue you!”

“B-but...” Sonic watched Tails type something on what looked like a cell phone, “What about the Master Emerald?”

“I asked Mighty to watch it for me.” Knuckles scouted the area outside their small metal room, “I’m not sure why I never did before. Mighty is my best friend.”

The ground shook beneath them, and Tails’ device began to beep.

“Guys, we don’t have much time left!” Tails flew into the air, “This way!”

Sonic took after the group, being pulled ahead by Amy as Espio disappeared again.

“Wait.” Sonic pulled out of Amy's grasp, his ears spinning around.

“Hm?” Knuckles stopped to look back at Sonic, “What's wrong?”

“I,” Sonic strained his ears, “I hear something.”

Sonic followed the source of the odd sound. It sounded like...muffled crying.

“Ah. Here.” Sonic tried the door, but it was bolted shut.

“Here, let me.” Knuckles threw a few punches until the metal door caved and broke off its hinges. Tails caught the door before it fell completely inside, though, in case whoever was in that room was near it.

“Hello?” Sonic poked his head inside.

It was so dark in there, the only light was coming from the hallway. Tails tapped on his cell phone device again and shone a flashlight into the room. What they saw in there made them freeze in their tracks; Two plant-like little girls, the older of which was on the ground, unconscious, while the younger one cried over her. The younger one, who appeared to have large green leaves as her hair, had snapped her watery blue eyes up at the newcomers, her pale face reflecting nothing but pure terror.

“It's okay, miss.” Sonic carefully approached them, kneeling down to inspect the poor girls, “Are you hurt?”

The younger one still didn't speak, but she gave a slight shake of her head.

“That's it.” Manik was too scared to be properly excited, but the gears in his head were turning, “These are the daughters of Lady Earthia. Cosmo and Galaxina.”

The younger of the two - Cosmo - relaxed, but only slightly, “You know Mother?”

Sonic pulled the older - Galaxina - into his lap while Manik and Sonia coaxed Cosmo out of her stupor. Galaxina’s stomach had a gaping hole in it, which was oozing thick brown sap, and the rest of her skin was covered in bruises and abrasions. Her head had a nasty red bump on it, and her clothing was torn and stained with chlorophyll.

“I don't know how long I've been down here...” Cosmo leaned into Sonia as sugary tears cascaded down her face, “But Father...he fell into the water and never came back...”

When it was just Sonic, he felt like he could handle it. He was scared, but he had his friends to help him. He had people he could fall back on. Even without Chuck, he knew things would be tough, but he kept going, and he did it with pride.

But...now?

Sonic felt something sliding up his throat, but not bile this time. It was hot and heavy, like iron forged in the earth, or dragon scales in a volcano. It was suffocating, yet it was also invigorating. It made his determination to be a hero double down tenfold. Why?

Because now, Sonic was angry.

 _Really_ angry.

“Guys, we have to get out of here!” Knuckles took Galaxina from Sonic, “The whole place is gonna break!”

As if on cue, the ground beneath them shook. They were running out of time.

“You guys go on without me.” Sonic hadn't meant to sound harsh, but his friends flinched away from him regardless, “Get everyone else out of here. I've got something to say to Robotnik.”

“But what about you?” Tails was distraught, his hands twisting around themselves as Knuckles and Amy rounded up the rest of the group.

Sonic gave the cub a patient smile, “I'll be okay, but these girls need help. Can you get them to safety for me?”

Tails sighed, grabbing Sonic's wrists, “Okay, but be careful!”

“I will, Buddy.” Sonic ruffled Tails’ bangs, and he laughed at the touch.

“Come on then! Let's move!” Knuckles led the way out, checking the rest of the doors for more prisoners before they left. Sonic took a deep breath now completely alone.

He waited a moment, crossing his arms before he said, _“You too, Espio.”_ and then, he turned on his heel and ran deeper into the building, its shivers and shakes serving as a reminder for why he had to hurry.

***


	8. Chapter 8

**December - Year 0**

Sonic's feeling of uneasiness was growing as he ran further into the facility, but so was his immense and very foreign feeling of anger. He had absolute proof that Robotnik wasn't satisfied just hurting him, he was willing to hurt anyone who got in his way. He supposed that before, he hadn't made the connection that Knuckles was injured and emaciated because someone else had caused that. He was too concerned with Knuckles safety at the time to really think about it. Not to mention that Metal hadn't even harmed a single quill on Amy's head despite having her for over two months.

Sonic ground to a halt when he saw a flash of light from inside a different room. This area of the facility was much nicer than the prison rooms, even to the point of having soft carpet and decorative wallpaper, even if it mostly just sported Robotnik's trademark red and black logo of his glasses and mustache. Sonic checked everywhere around him as goosebumps rose on his arms, then he quietly slipped into the room. It had been recently used from the looks of it, as an empty cup of coffee sat on the dashboard of the giant computer. It gently hummed, RGB lights running along the sides of the console and giving a soft glow to the keyboard and mouse.

Sonic checked his surroundings one more time before he wiggled the mouse, making the monitor spring to life. Someone had been typing, Robotnik from the looks of it, and Sonic began to read...

_Sonic complained of a headache this morning. He must have had a nightmare, because his eyes were haunted, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. It's hard to see my precious son in so much pain, but I have no idea what could be causing this. Is it because I put his radio signals on the same frequency as Chaos energy? Did I make him too much like Sonic the Hedgehog?_

Out of pure morbid curiosity, Sonic checked the date of this entry, and all the blood rushed out of his head.

June 23, 1991.

The day he was born.

_Do you understand now?_

Sonic flinched away from the voice, causing the mouse to fall to the ground. It was a wireless mouse too, so it rolled a bit before stopping.

“Metal.”

Metal approached Sonic, who was lifting his fists in defense, _You and I have more in common than you could ever imagine._

Sonic didn't notice when his breathing picked up. He tried to kill Metal, and Metal couldn't kill him. Why did Metal's voice feel like it was in his head? Why didn't Metal end up hurting Amy?

Sonic lowered his hands and began staring down into his palms, _“You and I are connected.”_

 _That's right, hedgehog._ Metal rested one arm on the keyboard, his red eyes shifting to stare at the journal entry, _I swear, killing that old man was the dumbest thing I could have done, because I've been crippled by your awful love for him ever since._

Sonic swallowed thickly, _Uncle Chuck._

 _But it doesn't matter now. I can't kill you, because that would be like killing myself._ Metal made a low buzzing sound. A growl? _But someone else can, so I can be free from your influence, and all of this unnecessary pain will stop._ Metal headed for the door, a different one than Sonic entered from, _This will end._

Sonic numbly followed Metal to the door. It looked to be a battle arena of sorts, but it was so dark no other details were discernible. He didn't like the idea of Metal being crippled because of him, but even if he wanted to kill Metal himself, Robotnik likely wouldn't let him stay dead. One thing was certain though, he wasn't going to let himself die so Metal could be free to hurt more people.

_I don't want your pity._

Sonic averted his gaze from Metal, scratching the back of his head.

 _Father is waiting for you._ Metal crossed the room to leave through the other door, _Don't keep him waiting._

Sonic watched Metal walk down the hall, leaving him in the darkness and silence of the facility. The ground gave one more muffled rumble, shaking Sonic out of his daze. He and Metal were connected. He didn't like the idea of sharing thoughts and feelings with someone so impulsively violent, but he pushed the idea out of his head. Robotnik needed to be stopped. He was going to continue hurting people until he was, and if Sonic couldn't be a hero now when people really needed it, then how could he even call himself one?

At least he knew now that those violent impulses weren’t his fault. That made him feel just a little bit lighter.

“It's about time, hedgehog.”

The lights flicked on just as all the doors slammed shut. The arena was mostly white with green carpet, and Robotnik was in a mech with a wrecking ball coming out of it. The large ball and chain swung back and forth, and Sonic was already thinking of ways to take him down.

“Nice to see you again, baldy nosehair.” Sonic let a grin cross his face, “I'll make you pay for what you did to my friends!”

“You'll have to catch me first!”

“No problem, _Eggman!”_ Sonic took off in a circle around Robotnik, watching as the wrecking ball slowly swung back and forth while it got up to speed.

“You've already lost, Needlemouse!” Robotnik's toothy grin took up his entire face, “Give up now and save us both the trouble!”

“Not a chance!”

Somehow, as he ran up the wall to jump onto the glass covering of Robotnik's pod, Sonic forgot about the fear and the anger that consumed him mere minutes earlier. He forgot about Chuck's cold body, Metal's echoing voice, Galaxina's dying frame in his arms, all he could feel was the adrenaline rush from fighting the man responsible for all his pain, and he did it all with a smile on his face.

He was a hero, just like Chuck always told him.

“No!” Robotnik frantically fiddled with his controls, but the machine was already breaking down around him, “NO! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I HAD EVERYTHING PERFECT THIS TIME!”

“Give it up, Robotnik!” Sonic brushed his fingernails over his chest as Robotnik's machine exploded and he was left on the ground, “I've won! Now get out of here before I pound you!”

“AH!” Robotnik escaped through a side door, and the green carpet caught fire.

“What!?” Sonic ran to the door to break it open, but it wouldn't budge, “Robotnik! _Let me out!”_

His screams fell on deaf ears, and he began to cough as the smoke filled his lungs. Just when he swore he was going to pass out and burn, a loud _clang!_ sounded from outside.

“Help!” Sonic pounded on the door, “I'm here! Help me!”

 _“I'll get you out of there, Sonic!”_ the voice of Knuckles, _“Move out of the way!”_

“C-c-can't! Fire!”

 _“Then back away as much as possible!”_ Knuckles’ voice reflected anger, but also clear worry, _“I don't want to hit you!”_

Sonic obliged, backing away until the flames licked up his ankles, “I'm out of the way, _go!”_

The loud clanging resumed, until a large dent formed in the door. Finally, the door broke off its hinges, and Knuckles reached his arm into the black, smokey room, “Come here!”

Sonic grabbed Knuckles hand, and he yanked the hedgehog out just as the fire made its way to the doorway. Sonic fell on top of Knuckles, who swiftly stood up to carry them both out.

“I got him! Let's go!”

Sonic realized that Tails and Amy were here too, and all four of them ran towards the exit as the rest of the building began to crumble away.

“Um, Knuckles...” Sonic tried to ignore the blush rising up his face, “You can put me down now...”

“No can do, man.” Knuckles had a slight blush as well, but it was so subtle Sonic nearly missed it, “You just had smoke in your lungs. I'll put you down when we're outside.”

Sonic didn't feel particularly weak or starved for air anymore, but he didn't push it as they escaped, just before the roof would have collapsed over the top of them.

“AHHH!” Sonic held onto Knuckles tighter as they fell towards the water, “I CHANGED MY MIND DON'T LET GO DON'T LET GO!”

_“I won't!”_

They made a large splash as they entered the water, and Knuckles shifted his hold on Sonic so he could swim with one arm. Tails and Amy followed close behind. The Chemical Plant gave one last massive shake before the whole thing sank below the water, causing a huge wave to wash over the entire area. Knuckles reoriented himself on the brick of the street, and that’s when he lay Sonic down.

“Hey, Sonic.” Knuckles shook Sonic's shoulders, “We're out, you can breathe now.”

Sonic saw that, and he saw Tails and Amy crowd around him too. All three of them were clearly dripping from the water that they were CLEARLY no longer submerged in.

But for some reason, Sonic just couldn't get himself to start breathing again.

His throat was closed up. The water matted his fur, stuck to his eyelashes, filled the spaces in his gloves and socks so they clung to his body. He shivered violently, his teeth chattering from the moisture pulling warmth from his skin. Knuckles shook him, yelling something at him about needing to breathe, but he didn't hear it. He was too far gone. He was about to lose it, his body screaming for oxygen, but he just couldn't take in any air! What was wrong with him!? _Why was he still so full of adrenaline when his body refused to let him breathe!?_

“Sonic.” Amy's voice rang through his haze, “You're safe now there's no more water we're out of there and we're safe _please breathe!”_

Sonic gasped, coughing and sputtering as he forced breaths in and out of his shaking lungs. He began to laugh through his gasping, whether through relief or hysteria, he had no idea. He just kept laughing and gasping until his breathing returned to normal, his vision clearing up and letting him see the sky full of stars above them. It took him one second longer to realize that someone's arms were around him.

“Amy...” Sonic returned her hug, blinking through the water that still hung over his eyes, _“G-guys...”_

“It's okay, it's okay.” Amy's grip on him relaxed, but she refused to let go, “We've got you. We're safe.”

“NO! MY CANNON!”

Sonic pushed Amy away to take a protective stance in front of her, “Robotnik!”

“You've destroyed my precious Eclipse Cannon!” Robotnik's face was red as a tomato, “That was my life's work!”

“So…” Knuckles scratched his head, “You don't care about the facility?”

“Oh, of course not. I can rebuild that no problem.” Robotnik banged his fists against the sides of his hovercraft, “But that _cannon!_ It was started by my _grandfather!_ It was _perfect!_ Only the _finest_ parts could even have any hope of fixing it!”

The crisp December air nipped at the group's skin, forcing them to crowd together for warmth especially since they were also still sopping wet. Tails sneezed, and so Sonic pulled him into his arms. Knuckles and Amy were also huddled at both his sides.

Robotnik halted in his rambling to give a heavy sigh, “Whatever. I've still got time. I reckon they'd get here in, say...five years?”

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows, “Eggman, what the _hell_ are you talking about!?”

“Ooh! I know!” Robotnik rubbed his hands together excitedly, “You've got a time limit now! Stop me in five years, or I'll _obliterate everything you've ever loved!”_

Sonic felt that fluttering in his heart again, except this time, it was more like the banging of a gong. The adventure part was exciting, but...

_That threat..._

“Come on, Sonic!” Robotnik gestured to a hovering Metal, “We've got work to do!”

Robotnik used his hovercraft to lift a large part of the broken facility into the air, knocking over a huge storehouse off to the side that hadn't sunk below the water in the initial collapse. It broke open on the street near Lady Earthia's estate, and inside were millions of bills, rings, and gold coins.

“Whoa!” Tails smiled through his chattering teeth, “W-w-we're _rich!”_

“Whoa, Buddy, let's get you out of this cold.” Sonic carried Tails in his arms, “You guys grab some of those riches. I'll go tell the others what happened.”

He wasn't expecting the outcry of worried and relieved voices when he got back to town, and he couldn't help but laugh at all of it. So many people that he didn't realize cared so much about him, and they would be there for him if he needed them in the future.

He could do this. He would be okay.

***


	9. Chapter 9

**February - Year 1**

The past several weeks were a flurry of activity. Vector pocketed so much money from the event that his pockets made jingling sounds whenever he walked, but the rest of the citizens were benefiting from the financial weight that had been lifted off of them as well. Streets were more lively, houses had far less holes, most people even had running water and electricity now, which they hadn't had in ten years! Everyone was happier now that Robotnik was gone, and that was what Sonic always loved about heroes.

Plus, Lady Earthia was so happy about the return of her daughters that she offered countless Seedrian artifacts as thanks, but Sonic ultimately decided to turn the offer down. He had other cool things to help him, so he felt bad about taking things away from other people who might need them.

Anyway, he was currently hiding in a crate with a loose lid, because Mighty had informed them of something very special happening on this day...

“Mighty, I got those bolts you wanted.” Knuckles flicked the light switch.

“SURPRISE!” Mighty and Ray the Flying Squirrel pulled confetti poppers, and Sonic jumped out of his hiding place to throw a party hat on Knuckles’ head and blow a noise maker in his face.

“Oh my God!” Knuckles slapped his forehead as a laugh escaped him, “Mighty! You did it!”

“I figured this year was the _perfect_ time to surprise you!” Mighty slid a box into Knuckles hands, “I knew I'd do it one day! Happy birthday, Knuckles!”

“My _man!”_ Knuckles gave Mighty a crushing bear hug, “You were right! You've done it! I'm _so_ surprised!”

“Anyway, I hope you like my gift.” Mighty ran to the back of the house to grab the cake, “I think considering the circumstances, it'll prove quite useful.”

Knuckles took the chair that Mighty offered, tearing the wrapping paper off the box. Inside were a set of what looked like brass knuckles, except they were shaped more like scoopers.

Knuckles grinned so wide he got stars in his eyes, “The Shovel Claws!” Knuckles was already good at digging, but these would help him dig further and faster through harder materials like clay, “Mighty! I don't know how you got these, but _thank you!”_

“Anytime, old friend!” Mighty flicked his nose, “Now who's ready for cake!?”

“ME!” a dozen childrens’ voices rang in the air, and Mighty carefully cut the cake into a dozen squares to put on paper plates with tiny plastic forks.

“Try not to spill it on the carpet! Oh, watch the counter, Ray!”

Sonic gently pulled Tails to the side once they'd received their cake, “Hey, Buddy. Your birthday was November, right?”

Tails’ eyes widened, “Yes...?”

“Then this,” Sonic handed a tiny gift box to the cub, “is for you.”

Tails tried to hand it back, “But...”

“It was no trouble.” Sonic insisted, “Besides, we were so busy during that entire month, I feel like you didn't get enough attention. We'll make sure you get a proper party next year, okay?”

Tails’ eyes got big and watery, then he gave Sonic a big hug, careful not to spill his or his friend's cake, _“Thank you, Sonic...”_

“Anytime, Tails.” Sonic returned the hug with one arm, as the other one was still holding his plate.

“Hey, Sonic?” Amy was already halfway through her cake, “When did we plan on leaving?”

Sonic stared down at his own square, but for some reason, he was feeling too sick at the moment to eat it, “After this party. Mighty wouldn't let us leave any earlier.”

“Is _that_ why he didn't want us to leave?” Knuckles’ mouth was covered in frosting, “Honestly, I should have known just from that.”

Sonic set his cake on the table, “Did you guys make like a bet or something?”

“Nah, I'm just good a surprising him on his birthday, but he's never surprised me before.” Knuckles stood up to throw away his plate, “Honestly, I kind of forgot about my birthday. I've been too preoccupied with everything else that's happening. Am I really twelve already?”

“Just one more year before you get to join the teenagers club!” Mighty said, apparently having overheard.

“Wow!” Tails was in awe, “You'll basically be an _adult_ by then!”

“Eh, more or less.” Mighty gave Knuckles a hardy slap on his back, “I can't believe it! I finally surprised you!”

“I know! I didn't suspect a _thing!”_ Knuckles ground his fist into Mighty's head, “You did it, my man! I knew you could do it!”

“Hey!” Mighty slid away, laughing, “Not the shell, please!”

They bickered a moment longer before Knuckles left to check on the other kids, and Mighty wrapped a gentle arm around Sonic's shoulders.

“Hey, man. Thanks for pulling Knuckles out of his funk.”

“Huh?” Sonic had wrapped his piece of cake with spare tissue paper, figuring he'd eat it later, “What d'you mean?”

Mighty lowered his voice so Knuckles wouldn't hear, “He's so used to isolating himself that he hides from us to constantly watch the Master Emerald by himself. I don't know why he wasn't letting us help him, but he let you, and that's what matters.” he tapped the tip of his shoe against the floor, “Maybe he wanted to look tough for us, or maybe he felt like the emerald is more important than his own life, but...thank you so much. He's never asked me to watch the emerald for him before, and I think that's a big step for him.”

Sonic processed that information, his view of Knuckles shifting a bit. Is that why he was all alone with infected cuts in such a ghetto part of town?

“He's the best friend I've ever had, Sonic, so...” Mighty shrugged, “Just...protect him for me, okay?”

Sonic pulled Mighty into a hug, who returned it gratefully.

“I'll do my best.”

Mighty laughed, pulling away to look into Sonic's eyes, “You're something special, you know that?”

“Thank you, Mighty.” Sonic gave Mighty’s shoulder a gentle punch, “You're not so bad yourself.”

“Hehe! Thanks, man.” Mighty made to leave, “Well, I've gotta run, but come visit me on Angel Island any time!”

“Will do, man.” Sonic watched Mighty salute, then he disappeared out the door, “Okay, Tails. Amy. Let's prepare to leave.”

“Aw, can't we stay a little longer?” Amy chucked her plate with the others.

“Sorry, guys.” Sonic waved them towards the door, “Trust me, I don't want to leave either, but we've wasted enough time already. Knuckles?”

“Hm?” Knuckles was holding the coffee table high over his head, a bunch of laughing kids on top of it.

“I-!” Sonic tilted his head, “What are you doing?”

“Showing off my strength, dude.” Knuckles shifted the table so it was over his shoulder, “I could probably hold this with one arm, but I don't wanna risk dropping any kids.”

“Okay, well, we gotta leave soon. Could you, uh...?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Knuckles went to put the table down, “Guys, out of the way please!” he shooed the other kids away before gingerly setting it down, “Whew.”

“Aw, do you really have to go, Knuckles?”

Knuckles ruffled the fur of the questioning kid, “Sorry, kiddo. Duty calls, but _man_ am I gonna miss you guys! Group hug?”

“YEAH!”

Knuckles turned towards Sonic as all the kids crowded around him, “You guys too!”

“Oh no, I’m _good!”_ Sonic was yanked into the fray anyway, and suddenly he was surrounded by the entire group of Manik’s rascals, _“Knuckles!”_

“What? You’re smiling!”

“Ack! Not the ears! _No!”_

_“Guys!”_

The kids stopped, and Manik pulled Sonic out of the group, “I’m afraid we have some bad news...”

The youngest in the group, a tiny rabbit named Cream, came forward to grip Manik's hand, “Is it Mama?”

Manik's broken gaze stared at the floor.

“Come on, guys.” Sonia came in to show them the door, “You should come too, Sonic. Before you leave.”

The walk across the street was quiet and uneventful. Even Charmy, who was usually overzealous in his chattiness, flew in silence, his wings making a soft buzzing sound. This was one of the older buildings, with less repairs, but still in good shape. Sonic stood awkwardly in the doorway until Vector appeared to steer them to the master bedroom. Sonic heard each step he took, tapping across the kitchen tile, and then muffled through the carpet.

In the bedroom lay an older brown and cream colored rabbit, but her face was pale, and she was fast asleep.

 _Or maybe..._ Sonic thought before he could stop it, _She's unconscious..._

Vector sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes turning glassy as he stared at her.

Sonic leaned against the bedside table. Cream wasn't here, but their small group - including Sonic's siblings - were all there.

“So...” Sonic spoke softly as he scratched his cheek, “Who is this?”

“Vanilla.” Vector said without looking up, “She's Cream's mom, and for years now, she's been sick.”

Sonic waited for him to elaborate, but he never did. He just continued to stare at the stationary rabbit, something like longing in his eyes.

“What's she sick with?” Sonic asked. Vector took a deep breath before he answered.

“We don't know. We've never known. She just keeps getting weaker, and she can't be awake for more than a few hours at a time.” Vector twiddled his thumbs in his lap, “It used to not be so bad, but lately it’s been awful. She can't even walk anymore because she could faint at any moment! I'm afraid if we don't do something about it...”

Sonic slowly reached out to feel Vanilla's face. It had some warmth to it, but it was also clammy and slick with cold sweat. Something familiar buzzed beneath her skin, but Sonic couldn't place why it was so familiar to him, besides the fact that the Master Emerald gave him the same kind of feeling. Was it something to do with Chaos?

“So I have a request for you, kid!” Vector steeled his expression as Sonic pulled his hand away, “D'you think maybe you could find a way to help her? Or even figure out what she has?”

Sonic swallowed as he stared at Vanilla, “I don't know, Vector. But I'll try.”

“That's all I'm askin’.” Vector patted Sonic's head, “You're a good kid, Sonic. I'm sure you'll figure it out.”

Sonic nodded, “Come on, guys. We're leaving.”

The group followed after him. On the way out, Sonic grabbed Manik's arm, “Hey, you sure you don't want to come with us?”

“Yeah, bro. I'm sure.” Manik's drumsticks were out the second they left the house, “Even with Robotnik gone, this place still needs work. I know we're related by blood, but for the time being, my family is here.”

“Same.” Sonia slapped a hand on Sonic's shoulder, “But don't be a stranger! You're welcome to come back at any time!”

“Thanks, sis.” Sonic couldn't stop the smile that stretched across his face, “We'll see you later, okay?”

“Bye, Sonic!” Sonia and Manik waved as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy ran out of the city, emerging in Green Hill.

“So, how do you plan on saving Vanilla?” Knuckles said.

Sonic ground to a halt, forcing the others to stop too. He put his pointer finger in the air, “I'll show you.”

“Wait!”

“Huh?” did they forget to say goodbye to someone? Lady Earthia ran after them, her full skirt billowing in the wind.

“I forgot about something.” Earthia brandished something familiar in her hands, “I believe this is yours.”

“What?” Sonic held out his hands, and Earthia dropped a glowing blue gem in his arms, “That's a...”

“A Chaos Emerald.” Knuckles said in awe.

“One of the seven ancestors.” Earthia said, “You resonate with Chaos Energy, little one. If you have the seven and the one, I know that awful doctor and his metal servant will be no match.”

Sonic bit his lip, “Lady Earthia, I'm honored, but I can't take this from you.”

“I insist.” Earthia let go of Sonic's arms and the emerald seemed to sizzle wherever it touched him, “I guarantee that this will be more useful with you than it could ever be with me. Consider it a parting gift.”

Sonic gasped softly as he held the emerald. It felt so nice and comforting in his hands, like a blanket fresh out of the dryer. Once he had it, he wasn't sure he'd be able to let it go, so he looked up at Earthia, hoping his gaze wasn't too pleading.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Earthia turned to drift back into the city, “Your future is bright, little one. Godspeed to all of you.”

The four watched her recede until she was out of sight.

***


	10. Chapter 10

**February - Year 1**

“Why are you holding it like that?”

“What?” Sonic looked down at his hands, where Amy was pointing. He had them completely wrapped around the Chaos Emerald, like it was slippery and he was afraid of dropping it.

“Oh, um...” Sonic stashed it away in hammerspace, but he was already missing it, even though it was still with him in his pocket, “It...felt nice to hold...”

“Um...” Tails scratched his chin, “Are you sure? It kinda sounds like a hornets’ nest...”

Sonic wasn't sure how to respond. It didn't sound like that to him, not even close...

“Whatever! This isn't important right now!” Knuckles crossed his arms, “Sonic, did you have a plan?”

“A plan for what?” Sonic looked back and forth between his friends before he jumped, “Oh! Right! Of course!” Sonic took off down the hills of bright green grass, “I wanna grab something from my house in Station Square, then we can get to figuring out how to cure Vanilla.”

“And then we find where Robotnik ran off to?” Tails was spinning his tails fast enough to boost him forward.

The Tornado came into view over the horizon, “Yep. And then we take him down.”

“Oh, wait!” Tails halted in his tracks, “My house is nearby! Can we go there real quick so I can grab something?”

“Oh, tails,” Sonic turned to follow his friend down the hill towards the forest, “You have a house around here?”

“Well, kind of.”

“Tails, there are no houses in the forest.” Amy said.

“Well, yeah, it’s more of an old storehouse, but it’s where I’ve been living since my parents disappeared.”

The three older kids came to a stop outside what looked like a rusty metal box. It looked like it had been a garage at some point, but it had no door, and it was full of things like wet muddy paper. Tails turned around when he realized his friends had stopped following him.

“What’s wrong?” Tails asked, his innocent eyes blinking in confusion.

“Oh my god...” Knuckles leaned into the building, stumbling backward when the smell of rotten fruit hit his nose, “You _live_ here!?”

“Um...” Tails shrunk away, “Is it bad?”

Sonic looked at Knuckles and Amy, who had kind of fallen into a daze. Without a word, Sonic went up to Tails and gave him a big hug. It was truly a wonder that Tails wasn’t sick or covered in muck despite living in the middle of a trash heap.

“Uh, Sonic?”

Sonic didn’t let go, but he did finally speak, however softly, “You don’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this.”

Tails began to shake, returning the hug with all his strength.

Sonic finally pulled away to kneel down, “Why don’t you live outside? At least it’s not covered in garbage...”

“It rains a lot, and...” Tails ran a palm over his eyes, _“...and the thunder is really scary...I don’t want it to hit me...”_

“Hey hey, don’t cry, shh...” Sonic swept the poor fox cub in his arms, letting Tails cry into his shoulder. Knuckles and Amy were still frozen, so Sonic said to them, “We’re going to grab anything Tails wants to keep, and then we’re going to leave and never come back.”

There were no objections, so Knuckles and Amy gathered the few salvageable things in the mound of trash to present to Tails, which included an old tv, a radio, and a display made out of paperclips. Tails picked out which ones he wanted to keep, and the rest were left behind in the garage.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Sonic carried tails back up the hills, the other two carrying the rest of Tails possessions.

“Okay, kiddo.” Sonic set his friend down, “The Tornado only has one seat, so some of us will have to sit on the wings.”

“What?” Amy gave the left wing a knock, “Is that safe?”

“Probably not.” Sonic shrugged, “I honestly never thought about it, but once I got too big to sit in Chuck’s lap, he taught me how to fly it. And then he just stood on the wings while I was the pilot!”

Tails was already in the seat, marvelling over the controls.

“Still, there’s a better way, isn’t there?”

“Aw, what’s wrong, Ames?” Sonic poked her cheek, “You scared?”

“Um, I’d like to _live,_ Sonic!”

The engine suddenly came to life, and the rotary blades kicked up a gust of wind around them.

“Tails!?” Sonic jumped onto the backrest of the seat, “What are you doing!?”

“I’ve always wanted to fly a plane!” Tails shouted over the noise, “Can you teach me how to fly it!? Please please _please!?”_

Sonic saw all that hope in those brilliant blue eyes, and he knew that Chuck specifically built the plane to be easy to fly, so...

“Okay. Start with the thruster. Power it up, and then pull back on the steering wheel, but not too much.”

Knuckles and Amy scrambled to climb onto the plane before it took off, and Tails was cautious as he eased into the controls. The plane ran along the ground until it caught the air and slowly lifted into the sky.

“Hold on _tight!”_ Sonic wrapped both his arms around the seat until the plane leveled out, when he shakily stood up to see where they were. Christmas Island was still in view, but it was already getting smaller as they flew away. Knuckles and Amy were at both his sides, holding tight to the edges of the cockpit.

“So, um…” Tails’ grip on the wheel loosened, “Which way to Station Square?”

Sonic tried to avoid the way the drop to the ocean made him dizzy, “Chuck has a map on this thing. See?” he pressed a button and the map appeared, a yellow arrow pointing out where their plane was, and a piece in the corner showing which way was north. Sonic zoomed out by pinching the screen, “Yeah, we're going the wrong way, the mainland is over here. You're gonna have to turn around. Can you do that?”

Tails exhaled, “Okay, I'll try.” he slowly pulled the wheel to the side, and the plane began to turn.

“Okay! Perfect!” Sonic said, “We're heading towards the shore now.”

Tails straightened the controls, his smile stretching from ear to ear, “Did you see that, guys!? I did it! I flew the plane! Did you see!?”

“Yes!” Sonic laughed at his friend’s enthusiasm, reaching out to ruffle the orange fur on Tails head, “You did it, Buddy! Nice and smooth, too! I gotta say, I'm impressed!”

The rest of the ride to the city was quiet and uneventful. The two who had grown up on Christmas Island weren't sure what to expect, since they'd never been to a big city before. Sonic supposed they weren't ready for what they saw, because as soon as the first building came into view, Knuckles’ and Tails’ eyes grew as big as dinner plates. Even Amy - who hadn't been back in years - seemed impressed by how much bigger the city had gotten while she was gone.

“Okay, my house is further from the coast. Tails, you might wanna move.”

“Oh, sorry.” Tails adjusted the plane before it could crash into anything, “But how do you even _get_ buildings that tall!? Won't they topple over?”

Every time Tails opened his mouth, Sonic’s urge to protect the poor child increased, “No, because the people who build them understand how buildings work and how to design them.”

Tails flew on, around the city and towards the more suburban neighborhoods. Sonic pointed out a long patch of concrete at the edge of one of the lines of houses, “There! That's where Chuck always lands the plane.”

“Okay, um...” Tails rubbed his hands together, “How do I land?”

“I'll show you. Remember the switch that activated the thrusters? Ease up on that and try to fly into the ground from an angle so the wheels will hit the ground before the nose does.”

Tails furrowed his brow in determination before he did just that, landing carefully on the stretch of concrete as he slowed down and came to a stop. He shut the engine off.

_“Whew...”_ Tails took a nervous breath before he jumped out of the plane, “I did it! I flew a plane! Did you see!? Did you see what I did!?”

“Oh, trust me, Tails.” Knuckles landed on the ground with a spinning head, “We had front row seats.”

“Whoa, you okay, man?” Sonic held him as he swayed.

“Yeah, just motion sickness. I’m fine.” Knuckles took a moment to straighten himself out, “All things considered though, Tails did a great job.”

Amy hummed in agreement before she landed on the concrete beside them, “So which house is yours?”

“It’s over on this street.” Sonic took off, “Follow me.”

He’d lived on this street his entire life, so finding the right house was second nature to him. A few times, a kid his age would stop to say hi, but he kept his group going until they approached the front door.

“Okay, one second...” Sonic dug the key out of his pocket, stopping to stare at it. After Chuck died, Sonic had to take these keys off his body, and the keychain still had a cute little charm of a tall hamburger on it. It made Sonic’s breathing pick up, thinking about all the times Chuck had unlocked the house for him after one of their evening adventures to the nearby park and hiking trails.

_He’ll never unlock this door again..._

Knuckles tapped his shoulder, “Sonic?”

“Right, sorry.” Sonic shook himself out of it to stick the house key in the lock to get them all inside.

The house was exactly the same as they’d left it, with even the same number of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. Sonic knew this, because he’d been avoiding his chores up until he and Chuck left for Christmas Island, so he’d just spent his last few hours here staring into the sink like he’d been asked to eat mud off the bottom of a farmer’s boot. In hindsight, it made Sonic feel like a brat, but Chuck should have known better than to confine his ten-year-old to mundane house tasks when he had so much excitement built up in his system. He took a second to stare at the kitchen sink, feeling like a cartoon rain cloud would appear over his head.

“So what are we here for?” Amy said, shaking Sonic out of his musings.

“Right, okay...” Sonic brought a hand to his chin, _“What were we here for?_ Ah, that’s right. Wait here, guys.”

Sonic ran down the stairs to the basement, where Chuck kept rows of bookshelves along the unfinished walls. As far as Sonic could tell anyway, there were books of every genre; Children’s picture books, fiction, non-fiction, books about advanced math and quantum physics, books that Chuck used to read in his giant fluffy armchair in the corner. Sonic found the book he was looking for - Chaos: A History - before running back up the stairs.

“Okay, So this should help us out with Vanilla’s illness.” Sonic opened to the table of contents and skimmed it briefly.

“Uh, dude...” Knuckles joined the others as they sat around the open book, “What makes you think Chaos has anything to do with Vanilla being sick?”

“Because she felt like the-!” Sonic stopped, remembering how the others had reacted to the Chaos Emerald they’d been given. How could he explain what he suspected without sounding crazy?

“She felt like the...?” Amy trailed off, her hand gesturing towards the confused hedgehog.

“Um...” Sonic leaned back on his knees, “Okay, this is going to sound bonkers, but something I felt under Vanilla’s skin gave me that same comforting feeling that I got from the emeralds.”

“Comforting?” Knuckles watched as Sonic flipped through a few pages of the book. It was old enough to kick up dust around them, and the pages had yellowed around their edges, “Comforting like how?”

“Y-you know, like...” Sonic gulped, forcing the thought out of his mind before he could scare his friends, “I figured that maybe Vanilla has a Chaos infection. It was something Chuck told me about a long time ago. If Chaos clashes with living things, it can make them sick, but he never mentioned if there was a cure.”

“So you thought this book would be a good starting point?” Tails was lying on his stomach, kicking his legs in the air.

“Exactly.” Sonic clicked his tongue as he continued to skim pages, “Yikes, I can barely even read this...”

“Let me try.” Knuckles spun the book so it faced him, “Oh yeah, this is some old jargon. How long has Chuck had this book?”

“As far as I know? His whole life.”

“Hm.” Knuckles rested his chin in his arms as he read, “Oh, it does mention a Chaos infection, but it...”

Knuckles paled. He tried to close the book, but Sonic caught the motion and took the book away.

_“Wait!”_ Knuckles reached out to grab it back, but Sonic held his face at arms-length with the book in his other arm, _“SONIC!”_

“But it’s a closely-guarded secret of the Knuckles Clan, who have been the masters of Chaos since the dawn of recorded history.”

Knuckles finally snatched the book away, but it slipped out of his hands and thumped onto the floor. He finally got his hands on the book, careful not to rip any pages, and slammed it shut.

Tails and Amy were frozen while Sonic tapped his foot, waiting for an explanation.

Knuckles looked away from them, “What?”

Sonic waved his arm. He almost looked like he was trying to play charades, his gestures getting more and more exaggerated until he finally said, “What do you mean _‘what’!?”_

Knuckles kept looking away, the book gripped tightly in his boxer gloves. He stayed that way, nobody knowing what to say or do after that reaction, until Knuckles finally huffed, “Okay okay, I know where we can get our cure, but it's not going to make me happy.”

“It’s for someone's life, Knuckles.” Sonic lay a hand on Knuckles’ shoulder, “I think you can handle it.”

Knuckles took a shaky breath, placing the book carefully on the nearby couch.

“Okay.” Knuckles headed for the door, “Let's go to Angel Island. We'll find our answer there.”

***

**February - Year 1**

They landed on Angel Island in the middle of the night, the stars away from the city glowing brightly above them. Tails yawned after the engine was shut off, barely able to keep his eyes open now that he wasn't flying.

Sonic pulled the poor kid out of his chair, “Yeesh. Let's just get to the Master Emerald and go to sleep.”

Amy blinked, “What was that, Sonic?”

“Knuckles, which way?” Sonic turned to look for the echidna, but he was already at the edge of the forest, “Knuckles?”

Knuckles didn’t move as the wind blew through his dreadlocks. Sonic carefully approached the area where Knuckles was staring into the forest, his expression carefully guarded and blank.

_“I haven’t been back since he drove me away...”_

Sonic jumped when Knuckles finally spoke. His voice was soft and harsh. Sonic wondered if he was lost in bad memories.

“Robotnik.” Knuckles continued, “He tried to steal the Master Emerald for his own purposes. I stole it back, _but...”_

Sonic realized what he was talking about, even after Knuckles had trailed off. Christmas Island and the Mystic Ruins were far away from each other, so that must mean that Robotnik had already taken it back to his fortress there before Knuckles had a chance to get it back. Sonic tried to think of some way to offer comfort, but he didn’t know how or what he could say.

“Come on.” Knuckles strode forward as Amy caught up, “It’s not much farther.”

***


	11. Chapter 11

**February - Year 1**

Sonic blinked as he came to. He was wondering why he was feeling so cold, and why dew was gathering over his skin. He looked to the side, where Mighty and Knuckles were asleep on top of the Master Emerald.

_Oh yeah..._

Sonic yawned, stretching his arms and legs until his joints popped. He didn’t usually wake up this early, but he didn’t feel like going back to sleep, so instead he headed back to the Tornado to grab some of the food they'd packed for their trip. He usually didn't pack foods that could spill, but because Tails was a much more careful pilot than Sonic had always been, he packed a few containers of the greatest gift he'd ever been graced with; Chili dogs. They would be cold, but that didn't matter when they were also covered with spicy peppers!

Sonic cracked open the tupperware and lifted the dog to his mouth, biting into it and savoring the taste before he headed back to camp.

“Sonic!?”

Sonic ran faster when he heard the panicked voice of Tails. Amy had woken up too, and she started trying to calm the poor fox until Sonic got back to him and set down his food.

“Tails, what's wrong?”

“Sonic...” Tails gave him a huge hug, still shaking.

Sonic held him close to himself, “Hey, Tails, it's okay.”

“I thought you had disappeared!” Tails looked up with his tear-filled eyes, “Don't do that again!”

“D-disappeared...?” Sonic remembered when Tails described his parents as having disappeared, and a chill crept up his spine, “No, no Tails, I just went to get some food, see? I was only gone for a few minutes...”

“I, I just...I thought...” Tails sniffed, rubbing a fist over his eyes, “When I went to sleep a while ago, my parents were here but, but when I woke up in the morning they were gone!”

_And they never came back._

Well, Tails didn't say that last part out loud, but when the thought hit Sonic, his heart shattered into a million pieces.

This poor kid...

“Hey, Tails. Look at me.” Sonic brushed some of Tails tears away, “I'm not leaving you. Everything will be okay. I'll protect you, okay?”

Tails smiled through his tears, “O-okay...”

“There's that smile...” Sonic ruffled Tails’ bangs. It was becoming a habit of his, “Now what d'you say we go wake up that knucklehead?”

“He's already awake.” Amy said.

“What?” Sonic followed her gaze to the emerald, where Knuckles and Mighty were already climbing down, “Oh. I guess I won't get to scare you then, huh?”

“Dude, I _did_ get scared. Just not by you.” Knuckles nodded toward Tails, who shrunk away a bit, but didn't say anything.

“Anyway, what was that mission you had?” Mighty asked, “I mean, I expected visitors of course, but not this soon after we said goodbye.”

“Because we're looking for a cure for Vanilla's illness.” Knuckles said.

Mighty's expression became somber, “Oh. Did Vector put you up to it?”

“Yeah.”

“That doesn't surprise me, I guess.” Mighty scuffed his shoe in the dirt, “He's usually one to not do something if he won't get paid. That was his whole thing, in fact. He _never_ turned down work that paid.” He cast his gaze into the distance, where the sun was beginning to rise, “But when Vanilla got sick, he didn't hesitate to take her in, even though she had nothing to offer in return. I think it just goes to show how he's a big softie on the inside...”

Now that he thought about it, Sonic was beginning to feel bad about how much he’d really clashed with Vector. Sure, part of it was the fact that Chuck had just died and he didn’t know how to cope with his emotions, but he still felt like maybe he’d been too hard on the guy.

“Anyway!” Mighty shook himself out of that sheet of melancholy, “I’m not here to gossip about my dad, good luck with your mission!”

“Thanks, man.” Knuckles hit Mighty with the back of his hand, “Let’s get going, guys.”

“Okay.” Sonic watched Knuckles walk ahead before he decided to join him, “Where are we going?”

Knuckles pushed the trees aside as they entered the forest, “Somewhere I haven’t been in a long time.”

Sonic gave Mighty a quick wave before they disappeared among the trees.

“Are you just trying to be dramatic-!” a branch flew back and hit Sonic in the face, “ACK! Or could you like, you know, elaborate?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Knuckles helped Tails step over a protruding root, “It’s just where I grew up, that’s all you need to know.”

Amy held onto Sonic’s arm as he continued through the woods, and it was easing his nerves a bit. Except for when she squeezed too tight and he lost all feeling in his fingertips for a second. Nevertheless, it was as comforting as ever, especially after they’d rescued her from Metal.

“Alright, here we are.” Knuckles stomped across the now open field, “Now let’s get this over with.”

Sonic couldn’t even begin to guess why the Mystic Ruins were so offensive to Knuckles, because all he could see in all directions was dirt, trees and vines, old broken buildings, and the occasional pyramid. That was just it, though; The only reason tourists didn’t fill this entire area was because it still technically belonged to the indigenous people, but as far as he could tell, Knuckles was the only one who had lived here within the past 20 years.

“You coming?”

“Oh, sorry.” Sonic decided not to question it as he ran to catch up, Amy still clinging to his side. If Knuckles had bad memories here, it wasn’t any of his business.

“So, uh...” Sonic watched Knuckles pick one of the smaller buildings, “What are we looking for?”

“Not we, just me.” Knuckles grabbed Sonic under his arms to plant him outside, “Stay here, I won't be long.” and then he disappeared under the curtain that served as the door.

Sonic crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. He wasn't exactly known for his patience, so he tried his best to stay put until Knuckles came back out. One minute, two, three, everything was fine for awhile, but when Knuckles still wouldn't come out, Sonic began to grow increasingly worried.

“Um, Knuckles?” Sonic called into the curtain, “D'you, uh...need any help?”

“No, I'm fine.” Knuckles suddenly appeared and the two nearly bonked heads, “I found it, let's go.”

Sonic scrambled to keep up with Knuckles as he bristled past, and...were his hands shaking?

“Knuckles, are you okay?” Sonic reached for him as he kept walking.

“Fine.” Knuckles practically spat, “Like I said, I’d rather not talk about it, so leave me alone.”

Sonic kept following Knuckles as he approached a new building, this one more sheltered than the last, full of old tomes and scrolls, one of which probably had their answers. Knuckles didn't stop them at the door this time, so Sonic, Amy, and Tails followed him inside. One thing Sonic noticed right away were all the paintings on the walls, almost exclusively of scenes depicting war. Every one of them featured muscular echidnas in feats of strength, whether they were lifting heavy objects or bathing in the blood of their enemies. All of them were painted in bright, festive colors, and none of them featured women.

Knuckles started skimming through the books, except he started having a hard time when he was too forceful and a page would rip, or when he had to constantly blink to clear his vision.

“Um, Knuckles…” Sonic put a gentle arm on his shoulder, and his eyes snapped up to meet his, “Do you need any help?”

“No no, I got it.” a pile of books fell off the shelf, “Dammit!”

“Hey, hey, Knuckles,” Sonic picked up some of the books, “It's okay, we can help you...”

“Sonic, really, I got this, okay!?” Knuckles hit his elbow on a different shelf, “OW!”

“Knuckles!” Sonic grabbed Knuckles’ arms, “Stop!”

“DON'T TOUCH ME!”

Sonic let go, if only out of pure, unadulterated shock. Knuckles had so much primal fear in his eyes, Sonic briefly wondered if they'd been found by a hungry bear or something, but the four of them were still alone, and yet Knuckles looked ready to fight everything and everyone on the whole island if it meant keeping himself alive. Sonic didn't know what to say or do until Knuckles dropped his head in shame.

“I, uh...” Knuckles awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “You're not gonna let that go, are you?”

“I think that would be a fair assumption, yes...” Sonic let himself relax as he realized that his hands had gone up in an “I surrender” position, “So...” he kind of waved his arms again, but didn't otherwise elaborate.

Knuckles gave a tired sigh, leaning back to sit on the floor, “I can't help it, man. This place is cursed.”

Sonic gave a shrug towards the other two. When they were just as confused as him, he decided to sit down next to knuckles, and Tails and Amy sat across from them.

Knuckles had his eyes covered when he said, “You're gonna make me explain. Aren't you?”

“I mean, you know...” Sonic gripped his ankles as he sat cross-legged, “It might help if we knew what we were looking for...”

Knuckles laughed, “Yeah, I guess.” his smile fell, and he raked a hand over his face, “Ugh, it's so stupid, I...”

He braced himself before he continued, “I lied to you, Sonic, I am part of the Knuckles Clan...or, at least I was, once. But I was...” he rammed his fist into the ground, “...the goddamn runt. Being in the Knuckles Clan meant you needed to be big and strong or you weren't worth anything. I was treated like I was worth less than the stone they used to pave their streets with just because I wasn't as strong as the other kids my age...”

“Hey, it's okay-!”

“I ALWAYS DO THIS!” Knuckles grit his teeth as tears streamed down his face, “I ALWAYS CRY! FOR EVERY STUPID LITTLE REASON!”

“Knuckles, it's okay!” Sonic held Knuckles close as he began to cry into his shoulder, “It's okay to cry! You don't need to be so hard on yourself!”

“I know, I know, but...” Knuckles sniffed, now shaking in not only sadness but in rage, “It's so ingrained in me that I can't let it go... _I'm so weak I wasn't even worth the air they breathed...”_

Amy and Tails joined in on the hug, which helped a little, but Sonic realized they were probably suffocating him, so he pulled away until the other two caught on, and Knuckles started breathing again.

“Knuckles, you _are strong.”_ Sonic insisted, “You _are.”_

“It doesn't matter how much stronger they were.” Tails added, “They had no right to walk all over you. And besides, there are more important things you could be than just physically strong.”

“I know, I know...” Knuckles backed away from the group, gathering his composure and waiting for the shivers to go away, “What's crazy though is...even though I hate this place and everything it stands for...I still want to protect it. I don't know why, I just...”

Sonic stood up after Knuckles, and the rest followed suit as well, “Well, they clearly valued knowledge at some point too, or they wouldn't have this library.”

“Heh.” Knuckles let some of the tension roll off his shoulders, “I guess you're right. But it's kind of difficult to find anything that's not related to building muscle strength.”

Sonic tried a random book, “What language is this?”

“Hhh, see? This is why I needed to do it myself.” Knuckles snatched the book away from him, “This is also why I wouldn't let you in that other place. That was my house once, and most of those records were in English, and I didn't want you to see...” Knuckles face scrunch up at the title of the book, “Oh my god, I need to host a book burning or something...”

Sonic cast his gaze towards the many paintings, “Were the women like this?”

Knuckles expression softened, “No. They were my saving grace, really. They were so kind and loving, years ago...”

Sonic gently took the strange book away from Knuckles, “Then fight for them. Forget about the people who hurt you, and remember those who deserve to be remembered. Leave their legacy behind, and teach that lesson to those who come after you.”

Knuckles grinned, giving Sonic a gentle punch, “Okay, Plato. Who made you so enlightened?”

Sonic shrugged, “It's something Chuck used to tell me. He was pretty enlightened, to be fair.”

“Whew, wow!” Knuckles skimmed through some more books, “Maybe that whole venting thing makes sense after all! I think I still prefer to be alone, though. Yeesh.”

Sonic noticed how much easier Knuckles’ task became when he wasn't trying to hide something traumatic, “Why did you want to come with us if you like being alone?”

Knuckles finally found the right book and sat down with it, “Because I'm sick of doing nothing. The only reason I was put in charge of the Master Emerald is because they thought the responsibility would make me shape up. Of course, I still guard it for my own reasons, but I was once too extreme about it, and I was too hard on myself when it was taken by Robotnik.”

“So...” Sonic leaned back against the wall as Knuckles’ eyes swept over the pages, “You want to make your own choice for once?”

“Huh, yeah actually. That sounds about right, let's go with that.” Knuckles said, “Ah! Here it is! Guys, listen to this!”

The three of them sat around Knuckles as he translated, careful not to sit too close just in case he freaked out again.

“Okay... _‘Chaos isn't just a power, it's a spirit, a god. It exists in our hearts, and in our blood. If someone were to get infected with it, there is no cure, however if someone in tune with Chaos were to use the Emeralds and offer up a prayer for the infected person, Chaos may choose to have mercy and lift the infection.’”_

“So we just need another emerald?” Amy said, “How many does it say we need?”

“Well, it doesn't have a specific number, it just says _‘more than one',_ but I mean, this word can also mean _‘many’_ or _‘several’_ so maybe _they_ didn't even know.”

“Someone in tune with Chaos?” Sonic tapped his fingers on the ground, “What does that mean?”

The other three turned to stare at him.

“What?”

Knuckles smiled as he used Sonic’s words from earlier, “What do you mean _‘what’?_ Dude, _you're_ in tune with Chaos! Why else would you feel so comforted around Chaotic energy?”

Sonic pulled the emerald out of his pocket to hold it in front of him. He didn't miss when Amy and Tails shied away, but he held it close to himself, and it easily calmed him.

“So, there's nothing wrong with me?”

“Nope.” Knuckles snapped the book shut to put it away, “I'm not sure why you have such a strong connection to Chaos, but Earthia knew about it and that's why she thought you could use that.”

“But,” Tails jumped onto his feet, “Where are we going to get another one? There's only seven, right?”

Knuckles nodded, “Yeah. Follow me, guys. There's probably one inside the big pyramid.”

“Probably?” Sonic followed his friend out of the library, “You don't even know for sure?”

“I donno, man. My job was to guard the Master Emerald, but I remember other people who used to guard these pyramids, so it wouldn't surprise me.” he stopped outside the entrance to turn around, “Okay, you guys should wait out here. I know this place, and it's full of traps. Don't worry, I won't be long.”

“Whoa, Knux!” Sonic grabbed Knuckles’ wrist before he could take off, “Where do you think you're going all by yourself?”

“What?” Knuckles yanked his arm out of Sonic's grip, “I, I just told you. I'm going to get the emerald.”

“By yourself?” Sonic shook his head, “No can do, man. We’re a team now, so we're coming with you.”

“Yeah!” Tails and Amy agreed.

“Ugh...” Knuckles inhaled, slowly, “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

“Maybe if it was too dangerous.” Amy put her fists on her hips, “But in that case, we wouldn't want you to go in there either! Either none of us go, or all of us do.”

Sonic shut his mouth, in case he said anything wrong after that. Knuckles ran his hands through his dreadlocks.

“You guys are my friends.” Knuckles said simply, “I can't risk you getting hurt.”

“We'll be okay!” Tails’ ears perked up, “But we could just as easily say you're our friend, so you're not going alone!”

Knuckles sighed, but he didn't have a reply.

“Fine, but you guys are going to listen to me, okay? That means you, Sonic!”

Sonic opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself at the last second, “Let's just go. Lead the way, Knuckles.”

***


	12. Chapter 12

**March - Year 1**

The pyramid became convoluted the moment they stepped inside. A maze of moving walls and a ceiling that looked like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Knuckles seemed to know exactly where he was going though, so the three of them stayed close to him.

Suddenly, a weird disembodied voice filled their chamber, before a closed door, “How many sides does a circle have?”

“Two, the outside and the inside.” Knuckles said without even blinking. The door in front of them opened, and they were able to continue.

Finally, at the end of a long stretch of stone brick walkways, a pedestal sat in the middle of a wide open room with water rushing far beneath them.

“Okay, this is the point you'll really have to stop.” Knuckles halted them just before they reached the circle in the middle, “It's going to check for intruders, so I should go up there to get the emerald by myself.”

Sonic glanced back at the others, “Okay.”

“I mean it. Stay here.”

Knuckles gingerly stepped over the line between the path and the pedestal, his footsteps echoing throughout the room. He slowly reached out towards the pedestal, retrieving the emerald from it; The red one. He stepped away quietly, staring at the vacant place where the emerald had been with clear apprehension.

Everything seemed golden, until an alarm began to sound.

“No!” Knuckles dove back towards his friends, but they had already fallen through the trapdoor. The whole room was collapsing, and Sonic was falling...

“Guys, are you okay!?”

Sonic stood up, despite how much his head was spinning, “Knuckles?”

“Oh god, I have no idea...” Knuckles helped Tails onto his shaking feet, “I mean, we've never had any intruders, I didn't know...”

“Hey, man. It's fine.” Sonic knelt down to make sure Amy was okay, “Where are we?”

“Just a trap room.” Knuckles reached the wall, where candles had lit and were casting a dim light over the walls, “I can get us out, the exit will be...”

Sonic helped Amy and Tails step through the darkness, “It'll be where?” he walked over the the frozen echidna and reached out to tap his shoulder, “Knuckles, you kind of...”

That was when his heart leapt into his throat.

Two bodies emerged from the darkness. Both were foxes, one red and one more yellow. The red one was equipped with a toolbelt, mechanic's gloves, and heavy duty boots. The yellow one sported a white blouse with a blue skirt and similar thick boots. Both of them were adults, and both of them were dead.

Sonic realized why they struck him as familiar and he scrambled to block Tails’ line of sight, but it was too late.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Tails tried to run to them, but Sonic held him back, “Are you okay? Hey, wake up! Why are you sleeping down here?”

Sonic scrambled to find something to say, but he was already panicking far too much to quickly justify. What were Tails’ parents doing down here!? Of all places!? It was clear Knuckles didn't even know about it, because his reaction was unmoving. Unblinking. Unfeeling. Neither of them had any idea what to do that wouldn't make the situation worse.

Luckily, Amy saved the day by holding Tails’ shoulders firmly and forcing him to face her, “Oh, they must be so hurt and tired to be sleeping down here! Don't worry, we'll get them out of here so they can sleep in a proper bed!”

Tails blinked, “But...”

“Sonic, Knuckles.” Amy continued, “Can you guys get them to the surface? We can take them back to Christmas Island later.”

They numbly complied, careful to carry the bodies gently so they wouldn't fall apart. Sonic supposed they were lucky they hadn't gotten here later, when the poor foxes would be closer to skeletons than intact bodies and it would have been even harder to justify all of it to Tails. Sonic swallowed the burning sensation snaking up his throat and forced the thought from his head. Knuckles was carrying the father, so Sonic carefully lifted the mother into his arms.

Oh boy. How were they gonna explain this to Mighty?

***

**March - Year 1**

Mighty sat beside Sonic on the Master Emerald, watching as the sun set behind the ocean in the distance. Tails was still trying to get more answers from Amy, but the longer she talked, the more she began to choke up from the tears she was holding back. Poor Tails was so confused.

Finally, Sonic jumped down as Amy and Knuckles walked away.

“Sonic, what's going on!?” Tails grabbed Sonic's hand, “You'll tell me, right? Will I ever see Mommy and Daddy again? Will they ever wake up?”

Sonic gulped, attempting to clear his throat before he decided to speak, “M-maybe.” Sonic knelt down to look Tails in the eye, “I'm sure one day you'll get to see them again, but you have to be strong for them until they wake up.”

Tails blinked away the tears in his eyes, “Then...why is everyone so sad if they're not gone forever?”

Sonic took a sharp inhale, “Because...because they were out here while you lived by yourself. But, but It's okay, okay? We're here for you now, so you don't have to be sad anymore. Okay?”

Tails stared down at the ground, his eyes glazing over as he thought.

“Is it okay that I'm still sad?”

Sonic pulled him into his arms, “Yes. Of course it's okay. We're still going to stick with you, because we're a team, and we're going to help you out until you're not sad anymore. Okay? You got that?”

Tails continued to stare until he smiled through his tears, “Okay! I can stay strong! I'll stay strong until I can see them again! You think they'll be proud of me!?”

Sonic sniffed as he wiped his own tears away, “Yes. I think they will be.”

Tails stayed in Sonic's arms until he jumped away, his spirits rejuvenated, “Okay! Don't worry about me, Sonic! I'll be okay!”

“Whew...” Sonic couldn't help the relieved sigh that escaped him. He was too overwhelmed to speak at the moment, so he just gave his friend a pat on the head, who laughed in return.

Mighty took that as his cue to jump down, “So, when do you guys plan on leaving?”

“Leaving?” something in Sonic fell, “Oh yeah, we still have a rabbit to save, don't we...?”

Mighty's eyebrows shot up, “Don't tell me you forgot.”

“Well, no, it just...” Sonic risked a glance at Knuckles in the distance, “...took a backseat, I guess...”

“In that case, you should leave now, or first thing in the morning.” Mighty took a light jab at Sonic with his elbow, “Last I saw anyway, Vanilla didn’t have a lot of time left.”

“Yeah, you’re right...” Sonic rose his voice, “Hey guys! We should get back to Vanilla with those emeralds! I only hope we don’t need more than two...”

***

_“Vector!”_

Vector looked up to see Sonic at the front door, a glowing gem in his right hand and the doorknob in the other.

“Kid!” Vector couldn’t help but swell with hope, “Did you do it!? Did you find a cure!?”

“I think so.” Sonic pulled out the other emerald, “If anything, this should help. Come on, guys.”

The four children hurried up the stairs to the bedroom, where Vanilla appeared to have gotten even worse. Her pallor was almost gray, and her breathing was labored. Vector was close behind them, watching from the door as Sonic held both emeralds in his hands.

_Please, let me save her._ Sonic crossed his arms in front of his chest as the emeralds began to glow, _Chaos, if you’re really listening..._

The gems shone brighter in front of him, and Sonic felt their power course through his blood. It warmed him all the way to his toes, buzzing against his skin, until he himself was glowing with them. The light transferred to Vanilla, and Sonic held his breath, waiting for everything to either work or go wrong, but he doubled down on his efforts to channel the power into her. He could save her, he knew he could.

Finally, the glow died down, and color returned to Vanilla’s face. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Hm?” Vanilla sat up with a yawn, “Oh, hello, dears.”

“VANILLA!” Vector sat on the bed to take her hands, which were no longer cold or clammy, “How are you feeling!? Are you okay!?”

Vanilla blinked at him, “Um, yes I feel fine. Why?”

“Sonic!” Vector swept him up, “You’ve done it! I can’t believe it, she’s saved!”

Sonic’s chest fluttered with pride. He jumped atop Vector’s shoulders, holding the emeralds triumphantly, “I did it! Guys, I did it!”

Vanilla brought a hand to her mouth as the memories came flooding back, “Oh my...”

“That was incredible, my man!” Knuckles roughed up Sonic’s quills once he was on the ground again.

“Mama?” Cream wandered into the room, holding herself up on the doorway.

“Oh Cream, my dear!” Vanilla left the bed to sweep the young girl up in her arms.

“You’re awake!” Cream wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck, “I knew you would be okay!”

Vanilla held Cream close to herself as she turned her attention back to her young savior, who was still beaming from his success, “What’s your name, darling?”

“I’m Sonic!” Sonic put the emeralds away to give a thumbs up, “Sonic the Hedgehog!”

Vanilla knelt down, looking into Sonic’s emerald green eyes, “I don’t believe it. Sonic? Is it really you?”

Sonic’s face fell, his pride morphing into confusion, “I’m sorry? Have we met before?”

Vanilla let herself smile as she sat back on her heels, “We did. Once. When you and your siblings were newborns, I got to hold you. You hadn’t even opened your eyes yet...”

Sonic felt something heavy rest on his heart as he placed a hand on Vanilla’s shoulder, “You knew my moms?”

_“Knew_ them?” Vanilla let Cream down when she squirmed, “My dear, they were my best friends! Aleena and Bernadette? We grew up together, we were heroes, and...” Vanilla caught sight of Amy, Knuckles, and Tails, looking at the two of them with wide eyes, “August...”

Tails bounded up to her, “That’s my Daddy’s name!”

“Miles!” Vanilla gasped, “Goodness gracious, you’re okay! But August and April...did they...?”

Sonic cringed, hiding his expression from Tails. He subtly shook his head, and Vanilla became downcast.

_“Oh...”_

Sonic took a deep breath, “Vanilla, come downstairs with us. I have questions for you.”

All of the children who had gathered downstairs, including Manik and Sonia, were so happy to see Vanilla that her attention was occupied by all the excited voices. When they finally calmed down enough for Sonic to pull her away from all the craziness, Vanilla sat down on the couch while the younger kids went back to their game.

“I can’t believe that August...” Vanilla sighed, “I’m sorry, child. You had questions?”

“Yes.” Sonic was glad they were back on track, “What do you know about my parents? And Tails, and, and... _everything!”_

“Well,” Vanilla laced her fingers together, “We were a strange group, you see. All those years ago, when I was no older than you, it was just me, August, Lily, and of course, Bernadette and Aleena, who would later fall for each other. As you know, August is the father of Miles, and his wife, April, was added to our friend group. Lily had a daughter, Amy, but she never mentioned who the father was, and we didn’t ask.”

Vanilla’s eyes grew misty as she spoke, and Sonic thought about the name, Lily. Amy’s mom.

“When Robotnik showed up out of nowhere, Bernadette and Aleena were killed in the resistance, and their three children were scattered. We all got together with another of our friends, Locke. He mentioned having a son as well, Knuckles was his name, I think, but I don’t remember much about it. He told us about how his wife had died during a terrible war in his tribe, which killed everyone besides himself and his son.”

Sonic took a second to process all that information, “When did you meet Locke?”

“A few years after we met April. It was uneasy at first, but he won our friendship in the end.”

_Knuckles’ dad._ Sonic looked into the crowd of children, “Hey, Knux!”

Knuckles rolled his eyes at the nickname, but went to Sonic anyway, “What do you want, Sonic?”

“Did you have a dad?” he said, “Named Locke?”

The color drained from Knuckles face, “Um, where did you hear that?”

Vanilla was already figuring it out, “You’re Locke’s son?”

“Oh, I see.” Knuckles turned back to the kids he’d been playing with, “I...didn’t see him much, now leave me alone.”

Sonic shrugged towards Vanilla.

“Child, wait.”

“What?”

Vanilla bit her lip anxiously, “Was Locke unkind to you?”

Something in her broken expression must have tipped him off, because his anger fizzled and he sighed, “No. He stuck up for me a lot, I guess. But I really didn’t see him often. Now please just let me get back to the kids.”

Sonic and Vanilla looked at each other, and Knuckles left them to their musings.

“So...” Sonic brought his legs up to sit on his ankles, “What was going on the last time you saw August and April?”

“Oh yes, that’s right...” Vanilla lay back on the backrest of the couch, “We were looking for the Chaos Emeralds, because Robotnik was also looking for them, and we hoped if we had them instead we could get the jump on him. August, April, and myself started in Locke's tribe, but that's the last thing I clearly remember. I don't even remember who found me, or how long it's been since then.”

“It's been almost a year.”

The two of them watched Vector carefully step around all the kids in the room until he made it to them, nearly stumbling over his own feet. He straightened out, his face turning red before he spoke again.

“I got worried about you when you never came back, so I went after you guys. I didn’t find your fox friends, but you were just wandering around on Angel Island by yourself. You looked like you were about to pass out!”

Vanilla stood up, “You couldn’t find them?”

“Um,” sonic jumped onto the ground, _“We_ found them. Kind of.”

“Oh dear...” Vanilla looked up at Vector, who was still staring at her, “What happened to them?”

Sonic risked a glance at Knuckles, who was trying to see how many kids he could carry without dropping anyone.

“I think it was the same thing.” he made sure Tails was out of earshot before he said, “It must have been the emerald or something. You had a Chaos infection, and-!”

“GUYS!”

Mighty had burst into the room, leaving cracks in the wall where the door had slammed open.

“You guys won't believe this!” Mighty huffed, trying to catch his breath.

“Whoa, man. Did you run here!?” Knuckles lost his balance and the laughing children came tumbling down.

“Sonic, it's-!” Mighty massaged his temples, “Man, you're not gonna believe this, but an emerald went missing from Station Square's ancient history museum! And everyone thinks it was you!”

Sonic froze where he was, “What did you say? Why does everyone think it was me!?”

“Because it...” Mighty stammered for a moment, “Actually, I have no idea. I've only heard the rumors.”

Well, Station Square was only a short train ride away from the Mystic Ruins. He was bound to pick up something from the mainland if something crazy happened.

“Vanilla, we'll have to cap this conversation for now. Tails, Knuckles, Amy, let's get out of here.”

Knuckles sighed, “Do we have to?”

“Well, you could stay here.” Sonic headed to the door, “But I'm getting to the bottom of this, so are you guys with me or not?”

***


	13. Chapter 13

**May - Year 1**

Sonic listened to the wind as it rustled the leaves of the tree above him. He always felt safe in the arms of a tree, the rough bark against the quills on his back, and he was trying to take his mind off of the copycat lookalike.

And the Eclipse Cannon.

This was his last month of being 10. It was weird for him to think about. He'd had ten birthdays, and he would only get five more before the canon would be completed. What was he going to do?

“Sonic?”

Sonic didn't even open his eyes, “Anything new?”

“Not really.” Tails joined him on the tree branch, judging by the swishing sound he made when he would fly, anyway, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to relax.” Sonic was leaned back enough so he could rest one of his legs on top of the other one, “Trees are safe, you know. They only want to protect us.”

Tails was quiet until Sonic felt something resting on his nose. He opened one eye to see that Tails had balanced a leaf on it.

“Hey, don't move!” Tails lifted another fallen leaf, “You're so still, I bet I could stack a bunch of these on you!”

So Sonic held still as leaf after leaf was placed. Tails was right, when Sonic relaxed, he was still! He never realized it until Tails pointed it out. Unfortunately, A gust of wind picked up at six leaves and all them fell over Sonic's head.

“Oh no!” Tails sighed, “We need to try this inside! Where there's no wind!”

“I don't know, Buddy.” Sonic sat up, both legs on either side of the branch, “I'm not good at relaxing if I ain't outside.”

“Then how do you sleep in your bed at night?”

“Uhhh...” Sonic shifted on the branch so he could lean back on the trunk, “I don't, really. Chuck would let me sleep on the windowsill as long as the screen was closed.”

“Hey guys!” Sonic and Tails looked down to where Knuckles was running towards them, “You're gonna wanna see this!”

Sonic jumped down to land in the grass, “Where?”

A crash and a distant scream could be heard in the distance, and Sonic took off in that direction. He'd gotten a lot faster since his 10th birthday, and he'd even gotten some sweet new shoes that would let him run at high speeds without hurting his feet. He came to a stop on a street with police cars at every corner.

“Look! It's Sonic the Hedgehog!” Sonic turned to the voice, a cop who lifted his gun, “You're under arrest!”

“What!?” Sonic struggled against the sudden grip of another cop, “For what!?”

“What do you think!? Robbery, breaking and entering, and assault!”

Sonic was tossed into the back of a police car, “Hey, wait! You've got the wrong person! I didn't do any-!”

“Tell it to the judge!” the cop in the driver seat peeled down the street, and Sonic was already racking his brain on how to escape.

He didn't notice the black hedgehog watching from the shadows.

_Okay, Sonic. You're way stronger than these guys, just do something!_ he felt the car come to a stop, and someone reached in to grab him.

Sonic threw his head up into the cop's jaw, and he fled down the street.

“Hey! Stop!”

How did these people even know his name!? Had his triumph over Robotnik already crossed the ocean? Actually...Sonic turned a corner and continued down the street...Robotnik was a big enough name that it wouldn't surprise him, considering how long ago it had actually happened. It seemed that time flies when you're saving peoples’ lives.

Sonic came to a halt near the end of this street. The sun had already set, and so he hadn't realized that someone else was following him.

“So.” Sonic tapped his foot, “You're the one who's been dragging my name through the dirt.”

The newcomer jumped onto the street below. He was a bit taller than Sonic, and he was black with red stripes down his quills. He bore down on Sonic with blood red eyes, which seemed to glow in the twilight, and his shoes let him hover just above the ground. He held something in his hand, a black emerald that glowed with that familiar intensity.

“Huh.” he landed across from the blue hedgehog, “So you're the one they call Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Sonic felt his fur stand on end. The newcomer's voice was soft and gravelly. It felt dangerous. Unsafe.

Sonic swallowed, trying to appear brave, “Who are you? And why are you doing bad things under my name?”

He didn't reply right away, stashing the emerald away for safekeeping, “I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog.”

Shadow...

“As for your name, well...” Shadow crossed his arms, “It's not my fault you look like me.”

Sonic pulled his hands into fists, “Well stop that! I've got people to save, I can't go to jail for something I didn't do!”

“Are you challenging me?” Shadow fell into a crouch, “Nobody tells me what to do, faker.”

Sonic braced himself to run, “I’m gonna make you eat those words, _faker!”_

“You’ll regret that.” and then Shadow disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The next thing Sonic knew, he’d been kicked in the head and was flying across the street.

“I am the ultimate lifeform.” Shadow charged at him, “You can’t beat me.”

Sonic jumped out of the way, rolling to a stop outside a convenience store before he jumped up to start running again. Shadow teleported to him again, but Sonic was ready, reaching out to sock Shadow in the jaw before he vanished. Every time Shadow appeared again, Sonic was able to get a hit, or at least parry an attack from Shadow before he was gone, but Shadow was catching on, so it wasn't long before Sonic found himself pinned to the ground under Shadow's burning hot shoe.

“You're not winning, hedgehog!” Shadow spat in his face, “I'm getting revenge on humanity, and you aren't going to stop me!”

Sonic struggled to breathe against the pressure on his ribcage, “Let...me...go!”

“You're not getting in my way.” Shadow slid a handgun out of his pocket to press it against Sonic's chest, “Unless, you're willing to yield...?”

Sonic's vision was already turning black, but he had an idea. Shadow was using Chaos energy to zip around, so Sonic wondered if he could do the same thing.

_Chaos Control..._

Sonic opened his mouth, forcing his ribcage to expand, “Chaos...Control!”

He disappeared and reappeared a few feet away, relieved that he could stand and run again. Shadow’s foot hit the pavement where Sonic used to be, and he whirled his head around, confused.

Sonic lifted his fists to continue fighting, but Shadow didn't come after him again. Instead, he just shook his head.

“You're resilient, I see.” he said, “It doesn't matter. You’re nothing but a child, and this entire world will _crumble_ beneath my power.”

“What!?” Sonic held his defiant stance, “Well, I have to stop you then! I’m a hero! It’s what I do!”

“A hero?” Shadow barely moved from his stance, “Tch. Don’t make me laugh. Think about what you’re fighting for, hedgehog. Can you really call yourself a hero?”

And just like that, Shadow was gone, before Sonic even had a chance to question him about what he had just said.

“Sonic!?”

Sonic turned to the sound of Tails’ voice, who was trying to push himself through the crowd of cops. He tried to fly above them, but one of them reached out to grab his leg, “Hey!”

“Sonic!” Tails stumbled as he yanked his leg out of the cop’s grasp, “They keep telling me you did something bad! But it’s not true, is it!?”

“No!” Sonic was slowly backing away, his hands in the air, “I swear to you, Tails! I didn’t do anything! These guys just started chasing me!”

“Still denying it?” another cop shouted, “We have the video evidence! We know you’re guilty! Just give it up already!”

“What are you talking about!? It was _Shadow_ not-!” Sonic froze in the middle of his sentence. If the lights were dim like it no doubt was in a museum in the middle of the night when the emerald disappeared, then he could see why people would mistake Shadow for him. How was he supposed to explain it, though!? He was surrounded by cops and he was running out of time!

Tails steeled himself, “I’ve got it, Sonic! Follow me!”

Sonic reached out to grab Tails hand as he flew past, and Tails lifted him into the air.

“Get them!”

Tails spoke into a big electronic device, which appeared to be a tablet with buttons along the outside of the screen and handles on both sides, “Manik! We're gonna pull off something stupid, are you in!?”

_“You bet I am! How stupid we talkin’?”_

Sonic landed on the pavement to start running, and Tails pulled him into the forest, where the cops couldn't reach them in their cars and would have to run after them on foot. Tails kept talking to Manik until they were far enough away from the city that they could stop and rest.

“Yeah, we just hit the border.” Tails’ voice was getting higher and more desperate the longer he talked, “We, we need to find the guy impersonating, impersonating Sonic and, and, and we just need more time!”

“Yo Tails, calm down.” Sonic held onto Tails’ shoulders until they stopped shaking so violently, “It's the cops, not executioners. It'll be okay.”

Tails covered his face with one hand, just taking a moment to breathe.

“I'm sorry...I've just never been in this situation before...”

“No, it's okay.” Sonic gently took the other side of the tablet-like device, “Manik, can you buy us more time?”

_“You bet I can, bro! I already have the perfect plan!”_

Sonic and Tails hid among the trees until Manik was ready to enact his plan. At least it was warm, so waiting outside in the middle of the night while trying to evade cops was proven to be doable, especially since Tails got cold easily. Finally, Tails looked down at the screen on his device, his eyebrows knitting together.

“Oh, he's here.” Tails hopped out of the tree they'd been hiding in, “Manik?”

Sonic jumped out after him, waiting for his brother to appear. Instead, he came face to face with...himself?

“Hey, bro!”

Sonic stumbled backwards. Aside from the blue eyes, it was like he was looking in mirror! Manik had his own shoes, but he'd discarded his red vest and swapped out the black fingerless gloves for regular white ones. His unruly bangs had been combed back, and all the green on his body was painted over with blue. Sonic could see the discrepancies between himself and his brother from this close up, but he figured it would be easy to miss from farther away, especially in the dark and at high speeds.

“Wow.” Tails whistled, “I see how you guys are related.”

“Okay, Sonic, go confront that faker! I'll take it from here!” Manik sped off into the night, attracting the police’s attention as he left.

Sonic held his breath, waiting for the noise to stop before he turned back to his sidekick, “Where's Shadow? Did you see where he went?”

Tails glanced back down at his device, “Well, I don't know. I've never met Shadow, I don't even know what he looks like!”

Oh, of course. How was Tails supposed to know where Shadow was if he knew nothing about him? Maybe Sonic was just so impressed by his natural savviness with tech that he figured something like that would be easy?

“Right, duh.” Sonic looked off into the darkness where Manik had disappeared, “You just stay out of sight, okay? I'll find Shadow.”

“Wait.”

Sonic turned back as Tails was fiddling with the device in his hands again. It softly beeped, a radar appearing on the display until it honed in on a point on the map. Sonic looked from him to the screen, not sure what he was looking at, until Tails abruptly said;

“I know where Shadow is.”

Sonic blinked as he stepped away, “I'm sorry, what?”

“Follow me, Sonic!” Tails began to run, using his tails to propel himself forward.

“How the heck did you figure it out!?” Sonic caught up to his friend, “What did you program into that thing!?”

“Oh, you know.” Tails was trying to hide his blushing face, “Stuff.”

Tails followed the signal until the two boys came to a large structure that was built into the side of a mountain. It was quite a long walk from the city, but it was impossible to miss, and Sonic realized to his dismay that it had a similar design to the old Chemical Plant. He knew what was inside that facility without a shred of doubt; the broken Eclipse Cannon.

“Tails.” Sonic anxiously began tapping his foot, “D'you think Shadow is collecting the emeralds for Eggman’s cannon?”

Tails’ arms shook as they held his thing, “I don't know...”

Sonic sucked a breath of air into his lungs before he took off. He had to stop this. He was getting that fluttery feeling in his stomach once again, the one that made him feel like a hero, but it made him feel nervous and scared too.

Tails was following him, so he turned towards him, “Tails, I want you to be extra careful while we're in there, okay? Shadow is dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt.”

“Mhm.” Tails nodded, his mouth a sad, squiggly line.

“So. You've come after us.”

Sonic skid to a halt. Shadow was blocking his way into the facility, two Chaos Emeralds in his hands this time. Black and pink. Shadow stashed them away to cross his arms.

“Shadow.” Sonic instinctively reached his arm out to block Tails from Shadow's piercing gaze, “I can't let you do this! I have to stop you!”

“Stop me?” Shadow shook his head, “And how do you expect that to happen? The doctor's plan is already underway. Humanity will be destroyed, and you're not going to stop it.”

Sonic growled, the anger bubbling up from deep inside him, “I won’t let you destroy anything! Did you not hear me, faker!? I will stop you, and I will protect all these people from you! It's what I promised all those years ago!”

Shadow sighed, “You're a foolish child, Sonic. Not that it matters much. Fine. Have it your way.”

“Sonic!”

Sonic pushed Tails out of the way, just as Shadow charged after them, “Tails, get out of here and gather the others! We need all the help we can get!”

Tails was conflicted, “But-!”

“Ack!” Sonic blocked a punch from Shadow, “GO!”

Tails peeled out of the way, amd Sonic had to block Shadow from going after him. Shadow tried to teleport, but Sonic ran to grab him once he'd reappeared.

“I'll give you one thing, kid...” Shadow's red eyes shone through the darkness, “You're a pain in the ass!”

“Come after me, then!” Sonic jumped away when Shadow swung his arm at his head, “You hurt Tails and I'll make you regret the day you were born!”

“Arg!” Shadow tried to grab Sonic's arm, but Sonic dodged.

Sonic faked running in one direction to shoot the other way and land a punch on Shadow's chest. He reciprocated by pushing Sonic on the ground to land a few hits to his head, and Sonic grabbed Shadow's arm out of the air to push it out of the way and land an uppercut to Shadow's jaw. His head flew backwards as he cried out in pain, and Sonic slid himself out from under his attacker to spin-dash into him, and he flew across the field. Sonic ran as fast as he can to get into the facility while Shadow was distracted.

“Oh no you don't!” Shadow used Chaos Control again to slam Sonic on the metal wall, and Sonic struggled against the hands around his throat.

“Urk!” Sonic kicked outward, but Shadow was smart enough to step to the side while Sonic faught.

Well, this seems familiar. Sonic would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so scared.

“You're such a nuisance.” Shadow grumbled in his ear, his tone making Sonic struggle even more.

“Halt! This is G.U.N.! put your hands where we can see you!”

Shadow dropped him out of shock, and Sonic's head thumped into the grass as he gasped for air.

“Well well well, if it isn't the ultimate lifeform.”

Sonic forced himself to stand shakily so he could see his rescuer; A white bat in a black military-style uniform. She swept her eyes over the scene as her and the rest of the soldiers approached, while Tails, Amy, and Knuckles watched from a distance. Shadow's eyes fell on Tails and he snarled, “You.”

The bat stepped up to help Sonic onto his feet, “I suppose at this point I should say that you're under arrest, but that's not going to work, is it?”

Shadow gave the crowd of soldiers one last glare before he vanished in that blue light.

“Yeah, that's what I thought.” the bat turned her attention to the gasping hedgehog, “Rouge the Bat. GUN Rookie. Are you okay?”

“Um...” Sonic coughed as he leaned back on the wall, “S-Sonic...”

“Yes, I know who you are.” Rouge waited for Sonic to compose himself, “I've been chasing you and Shadow for your charges, but from what we've just witnessed, I'm going to guess that it wasn't entirely your fault?”

“I didn't do anything!” Sonic tried not to sound desperate, but he'd found something he could use and he wasn't letting that go, “I swear, Shadow is the one who's been stealing the emeralds, not me!”

Rouge seemed to bore her eyes into him, and Sonic squirmed under her gaze.

“Well, you certainly don't sound like you're lying...”

“It's because he's not!” Tails spoke up from the sideline, “He was with us during the museum break! And we don't have the emeralds that were stolen!”

Sonic shot a grateful smile towards Tails, even though it was likely hard to see in the dark.

“Well, okay.” Rouge rejoined her group of soldiers, “Come on, let's look for that runaway!”

Another rookie lifted his helmet, “You're just gonna let him go!?”

“Yes.” Rouge squared her shoulders, “We can still keep an eye on him just in case, but I don't think he's lying. Shadow is clearly more of a threat right now, so let's move out and find him.”

She must have been a well-respected rookie, because the rest of the team made a swift retreat, spreading out among the city to look for Shadow. Sonic held his breath until his friends ran up to him.

“Uh, Honorary Commander?” a different soldier stepped up to Rouge, “If that's Sonic, then who is this?”

He yanked Manik forward, whose bangs had come undone and had its blue paint chipped off.

He shrugged, “Sorry, bro.”

***


	14. Chapter 14

**June - Year 1**

“Are you okay?” Tails asked.

Knuckles sighed, “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken.”

Shadow still had yet to be found. Since then, Sonic tried to infiltrate the facility again, but there was nothing there. How many random facilities did that Eggman have if he could just pack up and move at any time!? Well, if your goal was world domination, anything is possible, right?

Tails snuggled deeper into Chuck’s couch, “So what should we do now?”

Sonic had gotten a black eye from fighting Shadow, and while the rest of his injuries had healed for the most part, his lower eyelid still sported a discolored bruise. It made him look sad and tired, which while not far from how he really felt, just made him feel all the more hopeless.

“We find Shadow again.” Sonic swallowed as he felt the bruise under his eye, “We can't let him win. He's going to destroy humanity.”

“We have to stop him.” Knuckles lay on the floor in a nest of pillows, “But how? If he's as in tune with Chaos as you are, then we're going to have a tough time.”

“Well we have to try!” Sonic lay on his stomach over the couch's armrest, _“Somehow...”_

The longer they sat here doing nothing, the closer Shadow was no doubt getting to the end of his plan. Of course, Robotnik couldn't actually fire his cannon until it was fixed, but if Shadow was as impulsive as Sonic suspected he was, he worried that Shadow would find another way, and it would be too late to stop him.

“Shouldn't we at least leave the house?” Amy sat with her legs crossed on the armchair, “We certainly won't get anything done if we don't do anything.”

“What do you expect us to do, Amy?” Knuckles rolled onto his stomach to rest his chin in the pillows, “We're outmatched anyways. We might as well leave it to those GUN guys.”

Sonic closed his eyes, “No. I have to beat him.”

“What?” Tails sat up on his knees, “But what if you're overpowered by him again!? What if he beats you!?”

“Well then at least I'll know that I tried instead of waiting around for other people to do something that I should have done in the first place!”

Sonic felt something drip into his lap. He hadn't realized he was crying.

“Sonic...” Knuckles sighed as he sat up to meet Sonic's empty gaze, “It's not your job to save everyone. Don't feel so pressured to do something that's not your responsibility.”

Sonic wiped his tears away, “I know, that's what Chuck always told me, but what if they can't do it? What if GUN fails? Who's gonna stop Shadow then?” he lazily slid off the couch until he was sitting on the floor, “I want to do something, I just don't know what...”

The four of them continued to sit in silence until Tails took out his device to start typing. Nobody bothered to ask about it until Tails’ eyebrows shot up.

“Guys.”

Sonic lifted his head, “What?”

“Guys, come look at this.”

The other three begrudgingly got out of their seats to join Tails on the couch.

“Hey, is that Robotnik?” Knuckles said.

“It sure looks like it, but look, this guy's hair is all gray, so probably not.”

“He could've just used hair dye.” Sonic pointed out, “But you're right, wow, this guy looks totally different.”

“See?” Tails scrolled down the page, “Apparently, this guy, Doctor Gerald Robotnik, created a synthetic lifeform in order to study immortality, but the government or something similar shut it down.”

“Okay, so,” Sonic leaned back on the cushion, “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Because, look at the synthetic lifeform that this guy created.” Tails opened the picture. It was clearly old, and it was in black and white, but the figure was unmistakable.

“Whoa.” Knuckles took half the device in one hand, “Without the color, he really looks like Sonic.”

“Um, have you _ever seen me_ without color?” Sonic scrutinized the picture of Shadow. He was in a giant test tube filled with some kind of fluid, and hundreds of wires stuck out of his body. A tiny girl in a dress had her hands pressed up against the glass, staring with amazement at the sleeping hedgehog.

“So who's the little girl?” Amy said.

“Apparently her name is Maria.” Tails continued to scroll through the webpage, “She's stated as Robotnik's granddaughter. She had an illness that was slowly killing her, which is why some people guess the doctor wanted to study immortality.”

The puzzle pieces were clicking together the longer Sonic thought about it, “What happened to Maria?”

Tails kept scrolling, “It says...”

“Lemme see that.” Knuckles pulled the device closer to himself to read it, “Oh...apparently when the project shut down, they...”

Sonic leaned over Tails so he could see, “They...killed her...?”

“Why!?” Amy snatched the device from Tails and Knuckles, “She didn't even do anything! Why would they...?”

A rock was settling in Sonic's stomach, “You don't think that Shadow...?”

The four of them looked back and forth between each other.

“I've got it!” Sonic dashed to the front door, “I know how to fix this!”

“Hey, wait up!” Knuckles followed close behind him, the other two on his heels.

“Tails, you know what to do!”

Tails gave Sonic a nod before he pulled up his radar, “That way!”

Further into the city. He should have known. He ran as fast as he could in the direction Tails was pointing, and the first thing that hit his ears was a loud _crash!_

“You lied to me, old man.” Shadow was holding Robotnik by the throat, and his fat face was beginning to turn red.

“Shadow!”

Shadow looked up as Sonic skid to a halt in front of him. He was gathering a crowd, which was not only full of regular people and cops, but also news anchors with huge cameras and microphones.

Shadow's face twisted into a scowl, “Why you little...”

“Shadow, this has gone too far!” Sonic felt nervous sweat on his forehead from all the cameras, but he didn't let himself stop, “I'm going to stop you! And-!”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Shadow dropped Robotnik to face Sonic, “I have more power than you could ever hope for, unless you have some kind of plan...?”

Sonic forced himself to look brave in the face of the synthetic hedgehog, even though he was sure his hands were shaking, “What about Maria?”

Shadow’s face drained of all its color. Sonic only had a moment to think about how afraid he looked before those glowing red eyes were boring into him, and he was swept into the air by his neck. The crowd audibly gasped and backed away.

_“Where did you hear that name?”_

“Um, the internet?” Sonic kicked at Shadow, but his feet only met open air, “Look, I'm sorry she died, but that doesn't mean-!”

“BE QUIET!” Shadow threw Sonic into a nearby building, and the force cracked the wall before Sonic fell, “You will never understand my reasons, but humanity must _pay_ for what they did to her!”

“Wh-what?” Sonic struggled to stand through the static in his vision, “How is this _humanity’s_ fault!?”

“Because _they killed her!”_ Shadow ran to grab Sonic again, pushing him back to the ground, “She would still be alive if it wasn't for them!”

Sonic managed to land a kick to Shadow's face, who stumbled back in pain, “Humanity is worth protecting, Shadow!” he grabbed Shadow's arm to swing him around, letting go so Shadow could fly through the air and land in the rubble beside a recovering Robotnik.

Shadow gasped up at Sonic as he kept talking, “Just because some people are bad doesn't mean they _all deserve to die!_ Just _listen_ to yourself! Do you even believe what you're saying!?”

Shadow shakily got to his feet as he stared at Sonic. He didn't attack though, so Sonic continued.

“People are cruel. I get it, I...” Sonic scratched the back of his head, “I have friends who were really hurt by others...”

Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all looked at each other when they heard that.

“But my friends? I would give the world to make sure they stayed safe.” Sonic looked right into Shadow's still-dumbstruck expression, “And you want to take that away from them! I'm fighting you because if you destroy humanity like you want to, none of us will have a chance anymore! Every one of us will be gone. Is that really what you want!? Is that really what Maria wanted!?”

Shadow finally relaxed, closing his eyes to rub his forehead. He didn't say or do anything for a long moment, until his face fell, and he looked...sad?

“I...” Shadow was thinking, Sonic could tell, but whatever his internal struggle was, Sonic didn't find out, as Shadow disappeared in that same moment, leaving no trace that he had been there at all.

Sonic only hoped that his speech had gotten through to him.

***

**June - Year 1**

Sonic's eyes flew open. He was back in his bedroom in Station Square. He briefly questioned if it had all been a dream and Uncle Chuck was alive and sleeping in the other room, but he slid off his window seat to find Tails was sleeping in his bed, so it must have all been real. Well, that would be amazing if Chuck was still alive, but it was a relief that his adventures with his friends had been real.

Why was he questioning this? He felt his ear twitch and he turned to the side of the room.

**Come join me...**

It was a voice. A voice that seized Sonic's heart and yanked on it. It gave Sonic a really _really_ bad feeling, but his curiosity was overwhelming, so he popped the screen out of his window long enough to slide outside and put the screen back. He used to leave sometimes in the night if he was feeling restless, so he knew how to escape without letting Chuck know. He only hoped Tails stayed asleep the whole time he was gone so he wouldn't panic.

_“No! I can't do this! Not again...”_

It was...Shadow's voice? Sonic crept deeper through the woods that connected to his backyard. A fuzzy black mass was floating like a void, and Shadow was sobbing in front of it, curled up on his knees with his fingers raking over his head.

**Humanity killed your beloved Maria. Doesn't that make you angry? Don't you want revenge?**

“Not on the kid. Please.” Shadow shrunk even further, covering his ears like it would be enough to block the voice, “The kid did nothing wrong! He wasn't even alive back then!”

**I'm trying to help you, Shadow. I'm your friend.**

Every time the cold voice came from the void, goosebumps sprouted all over Sonic's skin. It swept over him like a cold fog, a sheet of frost over his concentration.

**I'm going to do what's best for you, whether you like it or not. So, don't forget about my request, okay?**

Shadow buried his face in his hands as the void disappeared, the warm summer air dispelling the chill.

Sonic stepped forward, but he was afraid to speak in case his voice betrayed him. Shadow heard the step though and snapped his head up, wiping the rest of his tears away.

“Sonic.” Shadow stood carefully, rubbing the rest of the cold from his legs, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh...my, my house is over there...” Sonic's breath caught in his throat as he felt the chill come back. His limbs seemed to be frozen in place while Shadow shook, the red streaks in his quills glowing an angry red color along with his eyes.

“Sonic, why are you here?”

Sonic tried to move, but he was still stuck, “Shad-Shadow...?”

“Sonic, run!” Shadow forced himself to fall backwards, his arms wrapped around himself, _“Run!”_

Sonic finally snapped out of his trance, running as fast as he could back towards his house. He didn't stop, even though his legs felt like they were made of ice, until his bedroom window came back into view. He was a little too hasty with the screen this time around, as he simply kicked it out of its frame and closed the glass pane. The silence inside the room made his ears ring. He half expected to see a red streak tearing through the trees, but there was nothing. Just the silence of the room without the calming sounds of nature.

“Sonic?”

Sonic whipped his head around. The clatter of the screen had woken his three friends. Amy had been in a sleeping bag on the floor, and Knuckles had picked a shelf in Sonic's room that wasn't covered in action figures or basketball cards. All three were awake and staring at him.

_“Uhm...”_ Sonic wrung his hands together, still checking out the window to make sure Shadow wasn't there.

“Sonic, are you okay?” Amy stood up to cradle Sonic's hands in her own, “Oh, you're so cold!”

Sonic looked out the window one last time before he figured that Shadow wasn't following him. Was Shadow about to attack him? But why? And why did he seem so stressed about it? Was that thing controlling him? Was he in danger? Was _Sonic_ in danger?

“Sonic, what happened?” Amy gently pulled Sonic’s head towards herself when his gaze drifted out the window again.

Sonic opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He lifted his hands to start signing, but stopped when he realized his friends might not know sign language.

“What are you doing?” Tails lifted his device, “Wait, do that again.”

Sonic swallowed, lifting his hands again, _I’m too stressed to talk right now. Can you understand me?_

“Yes!” Tails jumped onto the floor, “Look, guys!”

Sonic felt lighter when he saw his words translated on the screen, “Wow. Can that thing do everything?”

“I don’t know.” Tails put the thing on the bed, “I built it with my dad, and he was pretty smart. I have no idea what else it can do.”

“So you can talk again?” Knuckles left his shelf, “What was that?”

“Oh...” the image of Shadow in the woods came back and he shivered, “If I'm too overwhelmed, I sometimes just...lose the ability to talk? It's not something I can fully explain. In fact, I didn't really talk at all until I was like, seven, so Uncle Chuck taught me sign language so I could still communicate with him.”

Knuckles looked at him in confusion, “You didn't talk at _all?”_

“Oh yeah! I remember that!” Amy pointed at Sonic, “You acted out what you wanted to say until I got it!”

Sonic laughed, “Oh yeah. That was fun.”

“So, uh.” Knuckles kicked the screen from the window, which was still on the floor, “What happened? Seriously, why are you so panicked at three in the morning?”

Sonic glanced out the window, “Shadow. He was out there, he was...” Sonic's gaze darted back and forth between his friends, “Crying.”

“What?” Tails stood on his tiptoes to check the window, “But I don't see anything...”

“Yeah, I, uh...” Sonic leaned against the wall that he'd covered in comic book posters, “Kind of left the house? And, you know, the window...”

“Whoa, hold on, you left the house!?” Knuckles stepped closer, “In the middle of the night!?”

“I do that sometimes! Calm down!” Sonic wiped a hand over his forehead, “Anyway, Shadow is out in the woods, or well, he _was_...and he was like, crying? And, and this _thing_ it was like a _hole in the universe_ or something, and...” thinking about it again was pushing him over the edge, so he took a moment to breathe before he said, “Can I just sign this? I don't think I'll be able to say it out loud...”

Tails lifted his device, fiddling with it until he gave a thumbs up.

Sonic lifted his hands, _Shadow was crouched down while he cried, and I froze in place. I couldn't move at all. Shadow screamed at me to run, and the red parts on his body glowed. I think he might be in pain because of that thing, whatever it was, but I didn't stick around to find out what was happening._

By the time he'd recounted the whole story, Sonic was almost dissociating, like he wasn't even there anymore. Even if he had any other words to say, his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, and it was getting increasingly harder to breathe. Maybe that's why he had trouble with talking; It felt dangerous for some reason. He had trouble getting any words out at all when he also had to force air in and out of his lungs. He could only imagine how badly he'd be faring if his friends were less accepting of his non-verbal-ness, like some of his teachers had been.

“Dude, you need to breathe!”

Sonic's attention snapped back to reality. His three friends had already finished reading Tails’ translation and Knuckles had his hands on Sonic's arms. Sonic gently pushed him away, collecting himself before he resumed signing.

_That thing. The voice that came out of it was just dangerous. You know how Metal's voice sounded? It was like that but worse. I don't know what it was doing, but I was convinced that I was going to die. I couldn't move, and Shadow was trying to hold himself back. I don't even really know what happened._

When Sonic got to having to sign for “Metal”, he just spelled the word out with individual letters, hoping it would come across on Tails’ translator. He knew there must be a sign for just the word for metal, but he didn't know what it was. He just used the regular sign for “shadow”, though. That was one he did know. Once the translation was read, his friends all looked towards the window, as if Shadow would burst through the glass at any moment.

“Yikes.” Knuckles approached the window carefully, “You don't think he's still out there...?”

Knuckles slid it open to look outside. The ambience of nature came back, but there was no sign of Shadow or the void that Sonic saw before. Just rows of grass and trees.

_I don't know,_ Sonic signed, _but I'm really worried about him._

Knuckles read the translation as he replaced the screen and closed the window.

Sonic inhaled, his vocal cords finally under his control again, “We have to save him.”

Knuckles grimaced, “Right now? Sonic, in case you've forgotten, it's three in the morning. We're basically off the clock at this point. And what are we supposed to do anyway? You just said you were out of control of the situation, you really think punching a void will do anything?”

“Well, it sure seems like that would be _your_ plan, mister boxing gloves!”

“Now, hold on! What the hell does that mean!?”

“Guys!” Amy jumped between the boys, “This isn't helping!”

Sonic and Knuckles looked away from each other.

“Sorry.” Sonic tapped his foot, “I just...I don't know. That was uncalled for.”

Knuckles crossed his arms, “It's okay.”

Sonic began to pace around the room as he thought, “But we have to stop that thing. Shadow, he...” Sonic looked back at his friends, “...the thing asked him if he wanted revenge, and he said, ‘Not on the kid’. Was he talking about me?”

When he got no response, he opened his bedroom door to trek into the hall, “Whatever. I'm getting a drink of water.”

***


	15. Chapter 15

**June - Year 1**

After Sonic got to celebrate his 11th birthday, his mind went back to Shadow. Just like before, the hedgehog was so elusive that he hadn't been found since. Sonic even tried to ask Tails to find him again, but Shadow wouldn't show up on Tails’ radar anymore. If they couldn't get it to work, then they'd have to do it manually.

“So, what's your plan?” Knuckles had taken the branches of the tree while Sonic sat in the grass by Tails.

“I don't know...” Sonic stretched his legs out in front of him, “I'm beginning to worry that he just like...dropped off the face of the Earth...”

Tails put his thing down to sign, _This could be good way to communicate when we forced to stay quiet._

Sonic smiled, _You might be onto something there, Buddy._

Thanks to Tails suggestion, the four of them decided to learn sign language so they could still understand Sonic when he couldn't talk. So far, Tails was the fastest learner, but to be fair, Knuckles’ giant mitts weren't the best for signing. He was trying his best, though, and Sonic supposed it was lucky Knuckles didn't actually have to sign, they just had to make sure he understood.

“Wait...” Tails stopped as he tried to sign something else, “What's ‘Sonic’ in sign language?”

Sonic leaned back on the tree trunk as he thought, “You know, I've never had to sign my own name, but when I was learning, Chuck would use the sign for ‘bluebird’, since I'm blue and I could never hold still. Here, this is what it looks like.”

Sonic made the sign for “bluebird”, and Tails copied it effortlessly.

“Cool.” Sonic dropped his hands to his knees, “If you need to, you can also sign the individual letters like this.” _S-O-N-I-C._

“Oh, do you think we should have nicknames too?” Tails checked his device, “In case you need to talk to one of us specifically?”

Sonic hummed as the wind picked up and wooshed through the leaves, “I can't imagine I'd need to, but we might as well.” Sonic grinned as he got an idea, making a quick sign once he had Tails’ attention back.

“What was that?”

“I just made the sign for ‘helicopter’ but with the letter ‘T’.”

“Pfft!” Tails threw a light punch at Sonic's head, “How dare you???”

“Haha! I mean, if you have a better idea!”

Tails recovered from his giggle fit as he adjusted the settings on his radar, “Nah, keep it, it's funny.”

The radar on Tails’ device began to beep, and he scrambled to shut off the alarm and track the new signal, “Sonic! It's Shadow!”

Sonic jumped onto his feet, “Let's go!”

“Where is he?” Knuckles lept from the tree.

“It's this way.” Tails flew off so the other two could follow him, “I'll split off to find Amy, but keep going that way and you should find him!”

Sonic and Knuckles came to a clearing where Shadow was leaning up against one lone tree. He was staring off into the distance, his arms crossed. Heaven knows what he was thinking about. Sonic approached him carefully, the events of a couple weeks ago coming back to the front of his mind.

He gathered himself as he inhaled, “Shadow?”

Shadow's eyes moved to him, but nothing else.

“Um…” Sonic forced himself to breathe as he stood up straight, “Are you okay?”

He was afraid that at any point, Shadow would snap and fall over, or start yelling and sobbing again, but he continued to stand stoically with hardly an indication that he was even conscious. Maybe he was afraid of scaring Sonic again, he wasn't sure.

Finally, Shadow spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, “I'm fine, but I'm guessing that you're thinking of what happened before.”

 _He remembers._ Sonic felt his muscles seize up. Shadow still hardly reacted, but Sonic was already losing control of his vocal cords. He snapped his mouth shut, turning to Knuckles for help.

“Is it happening again?”

Sonic managed a nod, _I was kind of hoping it wasn't actually real..._

Shadow's eyebrows shot up, “You speak sign language?”

Some of Sonic's panic morphed into surprise, _You can?_

Shadow slowly lifted his hands, _I had a friend who spoke sign language, a long time ago._

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other before Sonic asked, _Who?_

Shadow looked away. Then, he made the sign for “little doll”.

Sonic used individual letters to guess, M-A-R-I-A?

Shadow didn't answer.

“Hey, guys!” Tails landed next to Sonic, Amy close behind, “What's going on?”

Sonic switched back to his original inquiry, _What happened back there? What was that fuzzy black hole all about? And why was it so cold?_

Shadow opened his mouth, closed it, then continued to sign, _B-L-A-C-K D-O-O-M. I only discovered him myself recently, because I was doing what he wanted me to do anyway. He only showed himself when I started to doubt my intentions, thanks to you, little blue._

Sonic couldn't help but smile when Shadow referred to him as “little blue”, _So he tried to get you to kill me?_

Shadow flinched before he nodded, _I’m glad you ran away when I told you to. I'm in control now, so I was hoping I could find you. I need to tell you something._ his hands shook slightly as he kept going, _You four are in a lot of danger. You need to go into hiding, somewhere not even I can find you, or all of you could die._

Sonic's stomach turned, but he didn't back down, _Why? Who's coming after us? Black Doom?_

 _Yes, but also something far worse._ Shadow coughed, stopping in his signing to scratch his arms.

_Shadow, seriously, are you okay!?_

Shadow folded as he fell to the ground, but he forced himself to keep signing, _I’d be better if I had stayed evil, but you were right, Sonic. Maria was never a bad person, she believed in mercy, so I'm sure she didn't really want me to hurt anyone, even the people who hurt her._

 _Shadow, I can't just leave you like this!_ Sonic pushed Shadow's shoulders back so he could still watch Sonic sign, _I’m a hero! You can't force me to run away from someone who needs help!_

Shadow stared at Sonic for one more moment before he began to laugh, “That's right. You are a hero, aren't you?”

Sonic couldn't understand why that was so funny, but before he could ask, Shadow forced himself to stand, _Listen to me, Sonic. I'll probably be safer if you stay far away. Don't worry, I'll be the hero this time. You just keep yourself and your friends safe until the danger is gone, okay?_

Sonic finally found his voice enough to say, “No! You're important too, Shadow! If we're going into hiding, then you're coming with us!”

Shadow backed away, nearly tripping on the roots of the tree before stumbling a few feet into the field. His shoes flared, making him hover a couple inches into the air for a moment.

“Sonic, please.” Shadow's voice was low and broken, “I don't want any of you to get hurt. I swear to you, I will keep myself safe if you just do what I say. Go into hiding, and I will take care of the threat. Do you understand?”

Sonic frowned. Shadow's back was turned towards him, but he could still see the way his shoulders slumped in defeat, like his spine couldn't even hold his own weight anymore. Sonic subtly signed to Tails, _I have a really bad feeling about this. You don't think he feels overly guilty, do you?_ not because he couldn't talk at the moment, but because he didn't want Shadow to hear. Tails simply responded with a shaky shrug.

It went against everything in his nature, but Sonic said, “If we run away, and you get rid of the threat, do you promise to keep yourself safe?”

Shadow turned his head just enough to look behind him. Not quite at the group of kids, but at the ground near them.

“Yes.” Shadow rubbed his upper arms, “I promise. I'll keep myself safe.”

Sonic gulped, watching Shadow turn back towards the horizon, “Okay. We...we'll go.”

 _“Sonic!”_ Knuckles hissed in his ear.

“What?” Sonic crossed his arms angrily at his friend, “I think I got through to him, and he's not gonna follow us. Do you have a better idea?”

Knuckles scuffed the grass with the sole of his shoe, “After everything he did? What, you're just going to trust him after he tried to _kill_ you!?”

“Well, he beat up Robotnik too, so I can't imagine he's all bad.” Sonic started walking away, “And I don't really trust him all that much, but we can always keep an eye on things out of the public eye, and I mean, just look at him. Do you think he's faking this?”

Knuckles didn't have a reply, so the four of them slowly made their way back to Chuck's house so they could pack up and move out temporarily.

“Hey, Shadow!” Sonic called over his shoulder, “Be careful, okay?”

Shadow's only response was a single nod.

***


	16. Chapter 16

**August - Year 1**

“Do these guys really have to set off fireworks all the time?” Knuckles closed the curtains over the window, “Seriously! Independence Day was a whole month ago!”

Sonic was only half listening. They had been hiding away, only leaving every once in awhile to remind Robotnik to stay in line. They hadn't seen Shadow at all since he promised to keep himself safe, and even though it was normal at this point for him to disappear for weeks at a time, Sonic couldn't help but worry that this disappearance was particularly foreboding. He wasn't sure what gave him that impression, but he knew that if he himself had done something bad only to realize after the fact that it was bad, it would make him feel disgusted with himself at best. Depending on how bad Shadow was before he snapped out of it, he might even feel like he was beyond saving.

Sonic tried to keep that gruesome thought out of his head, but he couldn't stop it. It rang in his skull until he covered his ears and hid his face in his arms.

“Sonic, are you okay?”

Amy joined him on the couch. They were in Vanilla's house, where Vector was still as happy as ever to help her despite the fact that she was no longer sick. It was at least a speck of light in Sonic's worry. He saved her. He was the reason Vanilla was okay. It reminded him that even if he couldn't save Shadow, he was still a hero.

“I don't know, Ames.” Sonic leaned into the armrest, ignoring the heat that rose to his face, “I'm just worried. Black Doom still has a hold on Shadow unless he has actually gotten rid of him. I mean, we probably aren't strong enough to face that thing ourselves, but don't you think we should at least find him?”

Amy gently took Sonic's hand in her own, “I don't know, do you want to?”

Sonic was distracted by the way Amy cradled his hand in her lap. Considering that Amy's strength rivaled that of Knuckles, it just seemed odd as to why Amy would be handling him like he was made of glass. When he was thinking of an answer for her question, he realized it was probably because Amy was giving him the option to pull his hand away in case it made him uncomfortable. Maybe he just didn't think of that because Amy usually had a stronghold on his arm when they went on missions together.

“I think I do.” Sonic slipped his hand out of Amy's hold to jump onto the floor, “I'll try to stay out of sight, though. I just need to know what's happening. You wanna come?”

Amy nodded enthusiastically, “Okay!”

Sonic landed the plane in a new place this time. Instead of the flat field of concrete near Chuck's house, he picked a more secluded place a couple miles from the city. It wouldn't have mattered if they had parked a whole province over anyway, because a couple miles for them was nothing more than a brisk walk.

Once Sonic and Amy made it to the city, they noticed just how...quiet it was. It was the most peaceful the whole area had been in months, and somehow, it made the whole atmosphere seem like the eye of the storm. Sonic and Amy briefly split up to cover more ground, but once they'd reunited, they were no closer to their answer.

Finally, a thought struck Sonic that made him bite down on one of his knuckles.

“Sonic?” Amy noticed his sudden change in mood, “What's wrong?”

Sonic's gaze drifted to the abandoned facility, and Amy eased Sonic's hand away from his mouth.

“I think I know where he is.” Sonic moved his legs forward like they were made of lead, “Come on, it's not far.”

This facility wasn't as big as the one on Christmas Island, so their search didn't last long. It was mostly empty, just like before, except there were little things that had changed since they were last here, like how the mainframe was still warm and the coffee machine was plugged in. Some of the computers were also humming, indicating their recent use.

Sonic wiggled the mouse on the biggest computer on the basement level, making the screen light up. The first thing Sonic noticed? Well, it was his own name.

_Sonic,  
I know you probably want some closure on what happened, so I'm going to let you know right now, Robotnik got his cannon away before I could destroy it. I don't know where it is now, but he said something about it being moved into space when he was still using me like his destructive wind-up toy.  
I did manage to trap Black Doom in his own crystal though, so he's out of the picture as long as nobody frees him. Don't worry, I know how to keep it safe, and while we likely won't see each other again, I just want you to know that you are a hero. Keep that up, and I know you can do anything you set your mind to. I look forward to the odd day when our paths cross again.  
Your ally,  
Shadow the Hedgehog_

Sonic read it a few times over until the words began to blur together. Amy hit the power button on the side of the machine, and the sudden darkness made Sonic stumble back.

“So...” Amy took his hand again, a little more firm this time, “Is that the end?”

Sonic pulled his hand away from her, and she shied away sheepishly.

“I don't know, Amy.” Sonic messed with the cuff on his glove, “I still have a bad feeling, but I guess this is a good time to get back on track.”

Amy shuffled her feet awkwardly, and Sonic felt that heat rise up his face again.

“Um, by the way...” Sonic urged Amy towards the exit, “Why are you always touching me?”

Amy hugged herself as she followed him into the hallway, “Is that bad?”

“No, it's just...” Sonic scratched his cheek, “I'm not much of a touchy-feely person. I usually only accept hugs from people I'm really close to.”

“Oh! I'm so sorry!”

“No, Amy!” Sonic laughed as he gently lifted her hands from her face, “Don't apologize! I just thought it's something you should know.”

Amy looked away, resuming their walk out of the facility, “Okay.”

Sonic was afraid she was still holding onto guilt, so he kept talking, “Did you know? When I was younger, Chuck used to ask for my permission every time he wanted a hug. It got so annoying eventually that I decided to tell him that he could just assume I wanted a hug from him unless I told him otherwise, and it always worked.”

Amy twiddled her thumbs together, “So, I can just back off if you tell me to?”

Sonic exhaled, a weight lifting off his chest, “Yes! That would be great!”

“You should have told me sooner!” Amy walked in front of him to stop him in his tracks, “I never want you to feel like I'm suffocating you!”

Sonic shot her a patient smile, taking her hands in his own, “You're not. I mean...you _have_ made me kind of uncomfortable before, but I was kind of scared that if I told you to stop, you wouldn't take me seriously.”

“No no no!” Amy blinked away her angry tears, “I have other friends that are the same way, so I get it! I mean, the only reason I touch you so much is because I rely on physical contact to feel loved, and after Metal got my mom-!”

Sonic cut her off with a huge hug. He had his arms completely wrapped around her, and she reciprocated gratefully.

“Don't feel bad.” Sonic swayed on his feet as he held her, “I actually really appreciate that you hold onto me sometimes, and I appreciate even more that you're taking my feelings into account. You're such a great friend, Amy, _thank you.”_

Amy kept holding onto him until he let go first. Her hands trailed to his shoulders before they fell to her sides.

“Okay.” Sonic shook his jitters away before proceeding back into the forest, “Let's get back to the others. They'll want to hear this.”

***


	17. Chapter 17

**September - Year 1**

Sonic ran through the fields, relishing in how the wind in his quills made him feel like he had wings. He sped up though when he remembered _why_ he was going so fast, shooting a triumphant grin over his shoulder.

Over the past few months, no more incidents had occurred besides the odd badnik attack, so Tails announced that he had finished a new kind of communication device that you could wear like a watch. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and himself got the four prototypes of course, and now they were out on the field, testing them in their first mission.

“You can't run forever, you spiky pinwheel!” Knuckles called after him, “I'll get there first and you know it!”

 _“Guys, don't forget what you're actually supposed to be doing.”_ Tails’ voice came over the communicator.

Sonic pressed its big button, “I know, Tails, but we can have fun at the same time!”

“You can say that again!” Knuckles reached his arm out to take a swipe at Sonic.

“Whoa!” Sonic dodged, “You're not getting me that easily, big red!”

Sonic was now at his current max speed, which Tails’ “Miles Electric” (the tablet device) read at about 100 miles per hour. He was getting faster by the day, in fact the big reason why he couldn't go faster was simply because the friction from such high-speeds would burn his feet. If they could get around that, imagine how fast he would be able to go!

“HA!”

Knuckles fell over Sonic just as they'd reached their destination, rolling into one big red and blue ball until they collapsed into a pile at the bottom of a hill. They laughed, half-hearted apologies passed between them, until they straightened out and their noses touched. Sonic's blush nearly reached his ears.

_“Guys, where did you go?”_

Tails’ voice snapped them out of their trance, untangling their limbs and standing up.

 _“Sorry.”_ Sonic said.

Knuckles rubbed his arm, _“S’alright, man.”_

Sonic shook himself out of it before he activated his thing, “Tails, we made it.”

They’d arrived at the old frame of a house that had obviously been burnt down. Scorched, cracked and peeling bits of wood and paint. There was no smell of smoke, so it must have happened a while ago.

_“Awesome. Do you remember what you’re looking for?”_

Sonic stepped over the gap where the front door used to be, “A kid, right?”

_“Two, actually. They’ve been seen a lot around here, and I want to make sure that they have parents who know where they are.”_

_That would matter to you, huh?_ Sonic thought endearingly, “Hello? Anyone here?”

“NOW!”

Sonic and Knuckles flew into the air, suspended by some kind of teal-colored aura. A ring of fire formed around them as well, dangerously close to climbing up their legs.

“What the-!?” Sonic spun in the air, but it made no difference.

“Hey!” Knuckles swung his fists, but they didn’t connect.

“Why are you here!?” a new voice, coming from a young white hedgehog with bangs in the loose shape of a maple leaf, “You have no business showing your face around here, _Sonar!”_

“I hope you like fire.” another voice, a lavender-colored cat with a glowing gem on her forehead, “It’s all I can manage, I’m afraid.”

Sonic kicked through the air, but all it did was spin him around more, making him dizzy when the fire got too close to his ears.

“Hey.” Sonic said in the most gentle voice he could possibly muster, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t know who Sonar is. I swear. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and I’m only here to help.”

“Liar!” the white hedgehog’s golden eyes flared in anger, “You destroyed everything! You were the _trigger!_ If it wasn’t for you, then everything would have been fine!”

Sonic felt a pang in his heart when tears sprang in the young hedgehog’s eyes. Whatever Sonar did, it couldn’t have been good, and it gave Sonic that righteous fury he was becoming familiar with since he became a hero.

Sonic’s mouth moved on his own, and he made no effort to stop it, “Where is he?”

Knuckles’ jaw dropped, “Dude! We’re about to _die!”_

The hedgehog sniffed, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Don’t listen to him!” the cat snarled, “It might be a trick!”

“Where is this Sonar?” Sonic licked his lips as they were drying up from the fire, “I’ll destroy him for what he did to you. Haven’t you heard of me? I’m a hero. It's what I do.”

“You...” the hedgehog's tears were evaporated by the fire, “Do you think I'm an idiot? Did you really think I would fall for something so _stupid!?”_

“I don't wanna die!” Knuckles kept thrashing, “I never even told Vanilla how perfect her cookies were!”

Sonic wracked his brain for anything else he could say, but the panic was already making his voice seize up.

“Sonic! Knuckles!” Tails swooped in grab their arms.

“What!?” the hedgehog lost concentration, and the fire disappeared as well.

As Sonic was set down, he shot Tails the sign for _Thank you!_ a few times before he regained his voice.

“Hey, man.” Sonic watched Amy join them before turning back to the stunned hedgehog, “What's your name?”

The hedgehog's hands tightened into fists before he pointed at Sonic, “I'm Silver! And it's my mission in life to destroy you for your betrayal!”

“Silver, it's nice to meet you an’ all, but I _genuinely_ don't know what you're talking about. I swear.”

“I'm not falling for it! I just told you!”

Sonic felt Amy grip his arm while his other two friends stepped in front of him. It calmed his nerves a little, “I've never even heard the name ‘Sonar’ until this exact moment. When did this happen, anyway? I'm only eleven years old!”

Silver dropped some of his hostility, but Sonic could still feel the burn marks from Silver's scrutiny.

“Blaze.” he turned to his female contemporary, “Do you think he's telling the truth?”

“Well...” Blaze brought a hand to her chin, “I suppose it is odd that he would look so young after all this time, but I've still got my eye on you.”

“That works for me.” Sonic waved his friends away until they relaxed, “So Silver, Blaze, what are you doing all the way out here by yourself?”

“That doesn't matter!” Silver ran his fingers through his bangs, “If you don't understand why Sonar was so bad, if you really aren't him anyway, then let me tell you right now that he is bad news! He went back on his word as a hero, and left the Seven Wielders of Chaos without their leader when they needed them the most!”

“The what now?” Sonic noticed that Tails was already furiously typing on his Miles Electric, “What is that?”

“No way!” Tails began to scroll, and the three other friends crowded around to see, “Guys, listen to this! _‘The Seven Wielders of Chaos was said to be the group of godlike ancients who initially created the seven Chaos Emeralds.’”_

 _“‘There were said to be nine ancients in the beginning, but two of them grew so power hungry they were kicked out in an effort to maintain the peace.’”_ Silver jumped in, repeating the legend verbatim, _“‘Right when the world needed him, the leader of the Wielders, Sonar, disappeared without a trace, leaving the group with no leader and condemning the world to an age of evil.’”_

Tails turned the screen off, “I guess you already know this.”

“Know it?” Silver scoffed, “Don’t make me laugh. It’s been my bedtime story since I could barely walk. Sonar is the reason everything went wrong. Eclipse drenched the world in darkness, and Solaris burned the remains. I mean, obviously Eclipse is terrible too for turning to evil after an emerald was made for him, but Sonar was so powerful he could have fixed it! And don’t even get me _started_ on Lyric! That snake wouldn’t know kindness if it _literally killed him!”_

“Silver, calm down.” Blaze began to stroke his back, and he immediately calmed.

“Sorry. I just...” Silver huffed, “I mean, Sonar is immortal, so he must still be around somewhere. We need to destroy him so that he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

Sonic crossed his arms as he thought, “How can I prove to you that I mean no harm?”

Silver sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes, “I don't know, but if you're really not Sonar, then maybe you can help us. We're looking for the Chaos Emeralds so we can at least get a lead on contacting the Chaos Wielders. It might be our best chance to destroy the evil ancients.”

“Okay, so,” Sonic began tapping his foot, “We already have a few of them, but Shadow disappeared with at least two of them when he got rid of Black Doom...”

“Black Doom?” Silver scratched behind his ear, “Oh yeah, that's what Eclipse started to call himself after he turned evil. Wait, how did Shadow get rid of him?”

Sonic tried to remember if the letter Shadow wrote him mentioned that, but he shrugged, “He didn't say. He said he would, but we haven't seen him since, he just left a letter for me at Eggman's old facility.”

Silver tapped his chin, “Who's Eggman?”

Sonic mentally slapped himself, “Sorry, I mean Robotnik. You know, the scientist?”

“Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about.”

Sonic shifted his gaze to his friends, “Tails, have you been able to find Shadow since he left?”

Tails sadly shook his head, “I've tried, but any signals I've gotten are caused by other things.”

“Right, well we'll have to get those emeralds that he disappeared with. Silver, will you come back with us? You don't have to, but I'd rather know you guys are safe.”

“If you hurt him, I will make your death incredibly painful.” Blaze summoned a flame in the palm of her hand.

Sonic paled, _Remind me to never cross her, Tails._

Tails managed a numb nod, _I'll keep that in mind._

***

The Mother existed before time and space. She was lonely, so she created the nine ancients, and gave them the power to create the world and its mortals. First, they created Gaia; The spirit of the Earth. Second, they created the mortals, so others would know the joy of their creation. And lastly, they infused their power with pieces of Gaia; Chunks of emerald forged out of the Earth, so the mortals could call on their power in times of need.

It was no bible story for sure. Sonic was back at Vanilla's house with his friends, because it turned out that Silver and Blaze were long-time friends with her whole family. Once they'd heard Vector's story about how Sonic saved Vanilla from the Chaos Infection, Silver was suspicious of Sonic's ability to use the emeralds so effectively, but he ultimately decided to drop the issue and just be happy that Vanilla was okay.

Engulfed in the tale Silver had been told his entire life, the rest of the team was gathered around him, wide-eyed as he captivated them with his story.

“So what went wrong?” Tails had his entire body wrapped around a pillow, including both tails.

“Well, to be fair, Sonar wasn't the only one at fault here.” Silver absentmindedly spun fridge magnets around his hand with his powers, “The first to leave was Lyric, as he became so power hungry that he was considered a threat to the well-being of the mortals. He let the power of the ancients go to his head, and ever since he tried to steal the emeralds for his own personal gain, he has been sealed away, so that he can't hurt anyone else.

“Gaia was the next to rebel. He was so conflicted with himself that in order to stop him from dying, the remaining ancients split him into two pieces, Dark and Light. Nobody knows what happened to Light, but Dark easily turned to evil, and he left.”

Silver checked to make sure everyone was still paying attention. When they continued to stare with bated breath, he kept talking.

“Not much else is known about Gaia, unfortunately. Anyway, after the Chaos Emeralds were created, one day, Eclipse just vanished. No reason was given, he was just gone. With nobody to wield the seventh emerald, the rest turned to their leader for help, but...”

Sonic pulled a pillow closer to himself, “Sonar?”

“He was gone.” Silver dropped the magnets as he became downcast, “Vanished into thin air, just like Eclipse, when they needed him the most. He promised to help everyone, but without their leader, there is no Wielders of Chaos. It would have been fine if they still had him.”

The silence hung over them thickly. Silver swallowed the lump in his throat, his hands tangling in his fluffy bangs.

“The world was purged into pure Chaos, and with nothing to control it, its spirit ran rampant.” Silver took a deep breath, “It's the reason mortals were left on their own. It's the reason Robotnik still has such a foothold on this continent. Every evil on the entire planet could have at least been kept at bay if Sonar was still here.”

Knuckles sat up on his elbows, “And nobody knows where he went?”

Silver frowned sadly, “If I knew where he was, I would have killed him by now! But alas, he's just as missing as he was all those thousands of years ago.”

“How do you even plan on killing an ancient anyway?” Tails loosened his grip on the pillow that he had been slowly suffocating, “Didn't you say they're immortal?”

“Yeah, but that really just means they can't die of old age or illness.” Silver explained, “They can still die if someone else kills them.”

“Wait a minute...” Sonic bit his lip as he thought, “Didn’t Eclipse and Sonar disappear at the same time?”

“As far as we know, why?” Silver's eyebrows flew up to his hairline, “Wait, you don't think...no, that's impossible! Eclipse and Sonar were brothers!”

“Well, Eclipse tried to kill me, so I'd say anything's possible.”

“I'm sorry, WHAT!?” Silver jumped forward to rest his hands on Sonic's knees, “You didn't say that before!”

“Get, OFF!” Sonic pushed Silver away from him, shimmying across the floor until his back hit the couch.

Silver retracted his arms, “Oh, I'm sorry.”

Sonic relaxed, scooting closer to the group again, “It's fine, but remember when I told you about the black void-like-thing?”

“That was Eclipse?”

“I mean, Black Doom, yeah.”

Silver went back to his benign kneeling position.

Sonic rested his chin in his hands, “Black Doom tried to force Shadow to kill me. I don't understand why he couldn't just do it himself, but he had some kind of hold on him. It was weird.”

“And you haven't found Shadow since you last saw him?”

Sonic shook his head.

“Then we need to find him.” Silver stood to leave the room, “I'm afraid he's an important piece to the puzzle.”

***


	18. Chapter 18

**November - Year 1**

“Sonic, come inside! _Please!”_

_“No!”_

“But it's so cold out there!”

November 1st. Sonic wasn’t too big on Halloween (at least not as much as Chuck), but after it ended he always looked forward to the huge candy sales since it was cheaper then and stores were trying to get rid of it. Chuck would spend the whole day with him, going everywhere from super markets to gas stations on their hunt for the best deals on candy they could possibly find. It was Sonic's favorite day of the year, because it almost made him feel like a spy from one of his favorite action movies, and the sheer amount of candy they would come home with was more than enough to last them at least until next year. Their only rule was to ignore candy they both disliked, since candy had no purpose if they weren't willing to eat it. It was so much fun, and it also gave Sonic a chance to get a head start on cheap Christmas gifts for his friends, usually involving candy of course.

Last year, he didn't pay it much mind because he was worried about Amy back when she'd been kidnapped by Metal, on top of everything else that had been happening, but he'd been having a slow day today, and he nearly broke down crying when he looked at the calendar and it said, “November 1st”.

“Sonic! You'll get sick out here!” Tails was calling from the house, “Can you at least tell me why you're so sad!?”

Sonic wiped the frozen tears from his jacket as he sniffed. He was in the branches of a dormant tree with no leaves, trying to feel better as nature always made him feel so safe. Unfortunately, they were in civil twilight, so it would only get colder after this since it had already begun to snow. He thought he had gotten over Chuck's death by now. Overtime, the grief had faded into a dull throb that he could ignore most of the time, but now that he realized it was the day of their Cheap Candy Extravaganza and Chuck wouldn't be there to celebrate it with him anymore, it was as if Chuck was alive and well just yesterday, and the intense grief crippled him all over again. He didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything. He didn't want to think about Sonar or the emeralds or Eggman, he just wanted to be unconscious until November 1st was over.

“Sonic!” Tails grumbled to himself before retreating back into the house.

Sonic rubbed his nose, breathing into his hands to warm them. Already a year into his mission, and he'd hardly accomplished anything. He had a feeling that gathering the emeralds would help, but he only had two, and Shadow - wherever he was - had two with him. Three more were left after that, but how long would it take? And what if it wasn’t enough?

_“Sonic!”_

Amy was calling from the house this time. She had recently swapped her orange and green outfit for a flared red dress and matching boots. Right now, she had a fluffier dress on over her usual one acting as a coat, and her skirts and sleeves were lined with lace.

Sonic shoved Chuck out of his thoughts, “What do you want, Amy!?”

“I want you to come inside!” Amy stomped her foot as she closed the door behind her, “It's freezing cold, and you aren't properly dressed!”

Sonic hid his legs inside his large jacket, “I don't care! I'll come inside when I feel like it!”

As if on cue, Sonic sneezed violently as Amy approached his perch on the tree. He buried his face in his sleeve, and Amy angrily tapped her foot in the snow.

“Seriously. Get inside.” Amy jumped into the tree to hand him...a thicker coat? “And for god's sake, Sonic! Don't sit out here in nothing but a windbreaker! Do you _want_ to get frostbite!?”

“Okay, _Mom.”_ Sonic snatched the coat from her to wrap it around himself. Huh. He was warming up already.

“So.” Amy pulled the hood of Sonic's coat over his ears, “Do you mind telling me why you're out here in the cold by yourself?”

Sonic tried to hold onto his annoyance, but instead he hugged his body close to himself, “I _do_ mind, actually...”

Amy sighed, taking Sonic's hands to warm them with hers, “If you're upset about something, you know you can tell us. We're your friends.”

“I know, but...” Sonic rested his cheek on his knee, “I just don't even want to think about it. It's too painful.”

“But none of us like seeing you like this.” Amy took Sonic's head in her hands to make him look up at her, “Isn't there anything we can do? I mean, you'll probably feel better if you talk about it at least.”

Sonic's gaze drifted to Amy's hands, which had gone back to cradling his own. Once again, she was trying to be more gentle than her usual gung-ho approach. Seriously, Amy was _not_ a gentle person, she was as strong and spontaneous as Knuckles on a normal day, but she also knew when she was going too far, and she could always tone back her aggressiveness if she realized she was making someone uncomfortable.

He looked up only to see that a blush was spreading over Amy's cheeks. He worried for a moment that _he_ was making _her_ uncomfortable, but she was the one holding his hands, so he didn't think much of it.

Sonic suddenly sneezed into his sleeve two more times, “Yikes. Fine, I'm coming inside.”

“Thank you.” Amy guided Sonic's shivering legs to the ground, catching him when he stumbled over his numb toes, “Whoa! Here, let me carry you. Is that okay?”

Sonic nodded and Amy swept him up in her arms. He marvelled at how warm she was, so he wrapped his arms around her neck until she got him inside. She took off the two coats and set him in a cocoon of blankets fresh out of the dryer and wrapped him up until he was purring.

“Did you get anything out of him?” Knuckles was wearing a red and green scarf and carrying a mug of hot chocolate.

“Not yet,” Amy stroked Sonic's head, “but at least he's inside.”

Tails paused a video game he'd programmed into his device, “Thank goodness. He's been out there for hours.”

“Hours!?”

“I didn't think it was that bad!”

Sonic rolled in his blanket burrito until he thumped onto the floor, “Ow.”

“Sonic.” Amy picked him up to put him back on the couch, “Just stay here, okay?”

Sonic shook his head, unraveling the blanket to sit up.

“Oh, you need to sign?”

Sonic lifted his hands, dropped them hopelessly, then lifted them again, _This is the usual time me and Chuck would leave for our Cheap Candy Extravaganza._ There was no sign for “extravaganza”, so he had always just used the sign for “great”.

“The cheap candy great?” Knuckles said, “Or the great cheap candy?”

Sonic nodded, _You know how candy places are always cheaper after Halloween ends? Well, me and Chuck would head to those places to try and get the best deals on as much candy as possible._ Sonic looked away as he kept signing, _It used to be my favorite day of the entire year, but I can't go with Chuck anymore._

The three friends glanced back and forth between each other.

“Sonic.” Amy sat on the couch next to him, “I'm so sorry.”

Knuckles knelt down in front of his grieving friend, “I swear to you, Sonic. Metal will pay for what he did.”

“We could still do it.” Tails put down his Electric to join the other three, “Together. Chuck can be with us in spirit, and I'd hate for you to miss out on something so important to you.”

Sonic inhaled, “You would do that?”

“Yeah, man. It sounds like a lot of fun.” Knuckles smiled gently, “We'd just need some coats.”

“No problem!” Sonic jumped out of his burrito to run upstairs, “I'll be right back!”

Rummaging through his closet, he got a few coats that he didn't wear much anymore. When he was leaving, he dropped something from the pile, and he set all of them down to examine it.

A brown scarf. Sonic recognized it as the one Chuck always wore in the winter when it got too cold. It was a little worn, but it was clean, and it always looked nice over Chuck's tan trench coat. Sonic added it to the pile and brought the whole thing out to the front room.

“Nice.” Knuckles grabbed a velvety red coat out of the pile, “I love this type of coat.”

Sonic hesitated one more second before he slowly tied the scarf around his neck. It had a slight weight on his shoulders. It was kind of comforting, like his own tiny security blanket.

“Yeah, that one would suit you, I think.” Knuckles handed a fur-lined brown coat to Tails, “Sweet scarf, Sonic.”

Sonic beamed as he picked a dark blue coat for himself, one of his favorites.

“Okay, if we're quick, we can hit up the Market Market first!” Sonic shut the door after ushering his friends out.

“The Market Market?” Knuckles caught Tails before he could slip on the ice, “Why would you go there first?”

“Because it closes first.” Sonic shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Now let's go! We don't have all night!”

The novelty was coming back to him like a nostalgia-filled truck. Sonic was meticulous, just like Chuck had been, checking every bag of candy to see how much was inside each, and dividing it by its price to find how much each candy would be worth individually.

“See? This bag costs less than this bag. This one is about two rings per candy, but this one is about three and a half rings.” Sonic held both bags in each hand, “However, this more expensive bag also has bigger pieces of candy, so it basically evens out so both bags are worth about the same.”

Sonic threw both bags into the cart. Tails was furiously taking notes on his thing while Amy and Knuckles simply nodded receptively.

“Oh, I should ask this now.” Sonic pushed their cart into the next aisle, “Are you guys okay with the candy we have? We shouldn't get anything we won't eat.”

“Are you kidding me?” Tails stashed his Electric to playfully punch Knuckles, “Tell this guy to put those weird fruity things back!”

“No way, dude! Those are the _epitome_ of sweets!”

“They're too bitter!”

Sonic pat Tails’ head, “Sorry, Tails, but as long as someone will eat them, they stay in the cart. I didn't make the rules.”

Knuckles followed the others around the corner, “Too bad we don’t have the guy who made the rules, eh?”

Sonic tensed.

“Oh. Yikes.” Knuckles cringed, “Too soon?”

Sonic relaxed, forcing the air out of his lungs, “Nah, it’s okay. I think he would actually appreciate that we can still joke about him.”

Store after store, Sonic had the route memorized. He and Chuck had worked out the perfect way to stop at every major place that sold candy, even long before 8 pm when a lot of the smaller ones closed. By the time they’d hit their last stop, they needed to borrow a wheelbarrow to cart their haul home, and even then, three of them had to carry the stuff that wouldn’t fit. Sonic estimated that they’d spent about 30-50 rings on each bag, so they’d spent a grand total of...1,000 rings? Not bad! It was at least a 9,000 ring save! Chuck would be proud.

Sonic spun around on his heels at that last thought.

Chuck would be proud.

“LOOK OUT!”

Before Sonic even had time to turn his head, all the bags of candy in his arms were knocked to the side.

“Sonic are you okay!?”

Sonic jumped up to find he was staring Metal in the face.

“Hey!” Amy swung her hammer at Metal, but he dodged and the hammer dug into the ground.

“Hohohoho!” Robotnik hovered nearby in his _“Egg-Mobile”,_ “Did you miss me, hedgehog!?”

“Eggman!” Sonic stumbled backwards into the pile of candy that was created by the assault. His heart sank. Their entire haul had been ruined. The bags had been slashed or crushed, and thousands of chocolate, taffy, gummy, sour, crunchy, and spicy candies were smeared all over the grass and concrete.

“Get back here!” Amy continued to swing her hammer, not just at Metal, but at all the robots nearby.

“Sonic?” Tails tapped his friend's shoulder, “Are you okay?”

Metal came back into Sonic's line of sight, and Sonic jumped in the air to spin right into Metal, throwing him across the street and landing him in a garbage can.

“My SON!” Eggman (technically Robotnik still but who cares) hovered over there to check on Metal.

“He ruined everything.” Sonic knelt down to sweep up one of the wrappers, “These sour taffys were my favorite.”

“Sonic. He didn't ruin _everything.”_ Tails knelt beside him among the wrappers, “You still had a fun night with your friends, and you got to pass that tradition on from your family.”

“Yeah, man.” Knuckles collapsed beside them, “You had fun! And honestly? Getting to keep the candy in the end was a pretty small factor.”

Sonic smiled. Then he laughed, “You're right! This was amazing! What was I thinking? Thanks, you guys.”

“Save the thanks for later!” Amy lifted her hammer onto one shoulder, “We've still got company!”

The four of them assumed a fighter's stance as Metal returned to the air. It was lucky there had been no rotting food or anything in there, or he might win simply because the group wouldn't even want to touch him. He did have a banana peel on his head though, which he plucked off and discarded.

“You won't be able to foil me so easily, hedgehog!” Eggman pointed to them, “Sonic, show them what we do to people who disrespect us!”

Once again, Sonic was feeling that sensation of Metal being inside his head, except this time it was far worse because he _felt_ Metal's coming attack as if it was his own. He realized he could use this to his advantage. When Metal lunged for him, he managed a perfect dodge. Not even close.

“What!?” Eggman watched another perfect evasion, and another, “How are you doing that!?”

Sonic tried to land a few hits on Metal, but he had caught on as well and was dodging everything with hardly any effort. It was weird from the outside, because they were clearly in a fight, and yet they hadn't landed any hits yet.

“Wow.” Sonic gave up on attacking and went back to simply dodging, “We're even more in sync than before! It's not really working out for you, is it? Tell me, Eggman, how exactly to you plan on destroying me using...myself? Kinda strange, isn't it?”

“My name is Doctor Robotnik! _Why would I call myself Eggman!?”_ he banged his fists on his windshield, but had no other comment.

Unfortunately, something pink landed in Sonic's vision, and when he realized what was happening, Metal turned away from Sonic to catch Amy by her throat, forcing her to drop her hammer.

“No!” Sonic stood there helplessly, “Don't hurt her!”

He knew what was happening; Metal was feeling Sonic's love for his friends, so he couldn't hurt them. He wanted to though, and Sonic felt that too. He heard the action before he saw it, when Metal's sharp fingers tightened around Amy's neck. Sonic was hysterical. He'd watched Chuck die that way! And now Amy-!?

Amy's feet brushed the ground, and she pushed Metal away from her with all her strength, “Get away, you creep!”

Metal stumbled until he fell, his hands gripping his face, _Why!? I want you to die! Why do I feel like this!?_

Oh no, if Metal's voice before was like an echo in Sonic's head, then his voice now was simply Sonic's own thoughts. He wasn't even sure if Metal said that aloud or if he'd only thought it to himself. Sonic was falling back into his brain, dizzy at the mental image of his friends dying in painful ways by his own hand, frustrated that he was forced to care about such pathetic lifeforms.

_This isn't me! It will never be me, I don't want anyone to die!_

“ENOUGH!” Eggman lifted Metal into the air with a high-powered magnet, “That's enough. It clearly didn't work, so let's get back to the lab!”

Metal grumbled, but didn't argue.

“Sonic?” Tails shook Sonic's shoulders, “Sonic! Snap out of it!”

He saw Tails in front of him. He saw Amy and Knuckles, he saw how they called out to him. He saw his own hands shaking like a leaf. He knew he was there, but somehow, he didn't know how to react or respond.

“Guys!”

The four kids turned their heads to stare robotically at Silver and Blaze, who had just arrived wearing warm coats of their own.

Silver shrugged at the candy massacre, “What the heck happened here!?”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you know? It's my favorite chapter! Unlike previous chapters, this one chapter fits inside itself like a bottle episode, with its very own exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. Sort of. Besides, I'm a sucker for cute domestic stuff. And candy. And lore.


	19. Chapter 19

**January - Year 2**

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”

The sound of fireworks was deafening. Sonic watched the colors dance in the sky, the echo reverberating off the concrete that surrounded them. A new year, a fresh start, even if Eggman was now closer to finishing his plan, Sonic tried to forget about it for just one day.

Tails snapped several photos of the fireworks with the high-powered zoom camera he'd gotten for his birthday, “Wow! You were right, this is cool!”

“I'm surprised you can even work that thing.” Sonic covered his ears as the next round of fireworks started, “It's got so many buttons!”

“That's my specialty!” Tails waited until the explosions lit up the sky again before he held down the shutter button, taking multiple pictures over the course of a few seconds.

“Just a quick question, Tails.” Knuckles was the only one who was lying on his back as Tails hovered, “Why would you need to take so many pictures at once?”

Tails adjusted the zoom, “Because if I only took one, there's a chance it wouldn't look right. By taking a ton of pictures, I can trash the ones that failed, and keep the ones that look right. It's especially helpful on a high shutter setting, as things can blur together when the shutter is open too long.” another flurry of clicks as more photos were taken, “Er, I hope that made sense.”

“I think so.” Knuckles went back to watching the fireworks.

“I thought you might like it.” Sonic put an arm around Amy when she shivered, “You've always said you wanted to program a camera into your Miles Electric.”

“Yep!” Tails landed on the ground when he realized he was flying higher and higher to get better pictures, “Yeesh, the sd card is almost full.”

“Already? That thing has like a hundred gigs on it or something!”

Tails stuck his tongue out at Sonic as he sat down, though he was smiling, “Well, maybe I got excited! So what, is that a crime?”

“Is this when you delete pictures that didn't come out right?” Knuckles scooted closer to watch the display on the back of the camera.

“That's right!” Tails hovered the selection over one of them, “See? This one wasn't quite in focus, and this one I was shaking a little too much, so they both came out blurry.” he deleted them before moving on to the next set of pictures, “These three are almost exactly the same, so I need to pick one of them and get rid of the others to save space.”

“There you guys are!”

Silver and Blaze sat down with them, the former having been the one who called out, “I've never seen fireworks before! I didn't realize fire could be so beautiful!”

“Wow, Silver.” Blaze rolled her eyes, amusement in her voice, “I'm right here.”

Silver stared at her, just as another explosion shook the ground.

“Was that a joke?” Silver took one of her hands with wide eyes, “Did you, Blaze the Cat, just make a joke?”

“Don't act so surprised.” Blaze snatched her arm away, “I can make jokes. Sometimes.”

Silver began to laugh, “I'm so glad you're making jokes again, Blaze! You know, even if your sense of humor is a bit dry.”

“Oh! Here comes the grand finale!” Tails took to the sky again with his camera.

“Don't fly too close!” Sonic yelled after him, “You'll singe your eyebrows off!”

“Worth it!” Tails did fly a bit lower, though.

Once his need to take thousands of pictures was satisfied, the six of them decided to head back home. When Silver and Blaze appeared after their Cheap Candy Extravaganza, they helped to collect any pieces that had survived the genocide, which was actually a sizeable amount. They were almost gone after two months, but that was to be expected.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Tails retrieved his Electric to pull up a sheet of information, “I made a huge breakthrough earlier today! Er, I guess technically yesterday?”

“You mean last year?” Sonic got a smack to his head for that.

“Shut up!” Tails couldn't help but laugh, “Anyway, a lot of info was left on the various computers in that old base, and I've finally tracked them to one source.”

“You've found Shadow!?” Silver looked over Tails shoulder, but nothing on the screen made sense to him.

“I think.” Tails scrolled down on the screen, “The details are a bit iffy, but I know that at least two bases exist in space; Eggman, I mean Robotnik's personal fleet, and the Space Colony Ark, which is the one that Gerald Robotnik built for Maria. One of them must have Shadow on them, and since Shadow doesn't like Robotnik, he probably made his base of operations on the Ark.”

“I see...” Sonic smirked, “Eggman?”

“That's not his name, Sonic.” Tails resumed their walk towards the house, “It's just an insult you came up with.”

“A pretty clever insult, if I do say so myself. I mean, come on! The _man_ is shaped like an _egg!”_

Tails shook his head, “Whatever. At any rate, we can figure out how to get there tomorrow.”

“You can say that again.” Sonic yawned, “We need our beauty sleep.”

“Well one of us does.” Tails reached out to unlock the door.

“Wha-be quiet!?” Sonic brought a hand to his chest in mock offense.

“Haha! See? You're not the only one who can joke-!” Tails opened the door, and he froze.

Sonic stepped into the house. It was completely ransacked. Everything was broken or smashed or ripped up, the floor was _covered_ in broken glass, and stuffing from pillows covered every surface.

_“What...”_ Sonic numbly reached down to pick up a picture frame, which had a photo of him and Chuck on his 7th birthday. The glass inside the frame was cracked.

“Oh my god, here, let me clear the way.” Silver used his powers to lift the glass and stuffing so it was pushed to the side of the room, making a clear path from the foyer to the kitchen.

Sonic reached for the light switch before he realized that most of the broken glass had come from the ceiling lights, “I thought it was just a dream...”

“What?” Blaze grabbed Sonic's scarf, “What was a dream!? Did you do this!?”

_“Blaze.”_ Silver gently yanked on her arm.

“I-I don't know...” Sonic shimmied out of Blaze's grasp, “It's faint, but...”

Metal.

“Ow!” Sonic dropped the picture frame, a bead of blood forming on his thumb.

“Sonic.” Tails took the injured hand.

“I-it's fine, Tails. Really.” Tails ignored him as he slipped Sonic's glove off, “It's just a scratch, I'm fine.”

“You _never_ touch broken glass.” Tails scolded, “Everyone knows that. I'll be right back.”

Silver cleaned up the glass from when Sonic dropped the photo, and Sonic tiredly watched the steady stream of blood as it trailed down his wrist.

“Sonic?” Amy grabbed his uninjured hand, “What's gotten into you!?”

“It was Metal.” Sonic's gaze was still locked on the blood in his palm as it began to dry up, “Metal did this.”

“Why would Metal crash into our house in the middle of the night!?” Knuckles gingerly surveyed the kitchen, “Nothing is missing, it's just all broken!”

Tails flew back into the room with the first aid kit, “Okay, Sonic. Sit down.”

Sonic dropped to the floor, and Tails sat across from him. He used a damp washcloth to clean up the blood, then he pressed a cotton round soaked in rubbing alcohol to the cut.

“Ow! Tails that hurts!”

“Yeah well your face hurts, hold still.” Tails dried the area before he carefully pressed a bandage to the cut, “There. Now let's leave the glass to Silver, okay?”

Sonic put his glove back on as a sudden thought struck him, “My room!”

He dashed through the house and practically kicked his own door down. It was an even bigger mess in here than the rest of the house. His mattress was slashed open to expose the metal springs, his action figure shelf had been knocked down, and all of his posters had been torn off the walls. He hurried to the opaque plastic bin he kept under his bed, fearing that Metal had been here for a very specific reason.

“The Chaos Emeralds!” Sonic ran back down the stairs, “I can't believe this! Metal got the Chaos Emeralds!”

Silver grit his teeth, “You left them in the _house!?”_

“I didn't think they would get stolen after _a few hours!”_ Sonic didn't want to admit it, but after holding onto them for so long, they were starting to make him feel sick, so he figured he'd just drop them off until the New Year was over, “Okay okay, I'm sorry, but do you know what this means?”

Silver was the first to gasp, “Shadow.”

“That's right.” Sonic straightened his coat, “We can't wait any longer. We need to find Shadow _right now.”_

***

**January - Year 2**

“Any second now, Tails!” Sonic was at the entrance to the biggest room in the abandoned facility. The room was so dark that Tails was messing with the panel to turn on the lights.

“You guys got it yet?” Silver poked his head in the room.

Tails sighed, “No. The entire place is on lockdown, and I'm not smart enough to turn it back on.”

“Aw, don't say that, Buddy.” Sonic gave the fox cub a scratch behind his ears, “It's just a testament to how careful Robotnik is, it doesn't mean you're any less smart.”

Tails leaned into Sonic's touch, “You think so?”

“Totally.” Sonic gave Tails a soft punch, “You do things I didn't even think was possible for a kid your age, and you say you aren't smart! Seriously, get real!”

Tails smiled, “Okay, but I can't get to anything from here. We'll have to try another way.”

“Leave that to me!”

Oh yeah. Ever since Sonic proved his innocence to GUN, they had become more helpful to the group overtime, so when they asked about getting to the Ark, the agency simply sent their young rookie. A rocket would have been nice, but Rouge was actually proving herself to be a valuable team member, and she knew a lot about the case she had received and how to find what she was looking for.

“Excuse me, Tails.” Rouge plugged her own device into the panel, a string of ones and zeroes flickering across it until the wall short-circuited and the lights flicked on.

“Wow.” Tails’ mouth gaped open, “How did you do that!?”

“Honestly? I didn't.” Rouge shot them a wink, “We have a ton of engineers and programmers who work on stuff like this all the time. I just used the program that they made.”

“That's incredible!”

“Anyway, why did you need to turn the power back on?”

“Because we need a way to get on the Ark.” Sonic looked into the room at all the ships they could take, “Which one d'you think would be the best.”

Rouge began the long walk down the aisle of the glorified garage, “The simplest one that's big enough to hold all of us.”

“Whoa.” Silver walked backwards as he turned around to inspect all the impressive looking vessels, “Blaze, are you seeing this?”

“I see you not watching where you're going.” Blaze was hunched over as she followed him, “You should know better, Silver. When you're not flying, you're incredibly clumsy.”

“Ugh.” Silver turned the rest of the way around, “Come on, you know I can just catch myself.”

“This one.” Rouge stopped the group to point to a rather innocent-looking jet flier, “It'll get the job done. Let's go.”

Rouge was a surprisingly competent pilot. Once the jet was in the air, it was a smooth flight into low-Earth orbit. Sonic was mesmerized by how the sky went from blue to black as they got higher and higher, and how the sun gleamed off the planet below them.

“Okay, there it is.” Tails looked up from his device, “Robotnik had charts for all of his abandoned facilities, I assume he meant to format that drive before he left.”

“Just the abandoned ones?” Knuckles pulled a bit on his seatbelt, “Is he just more careful with the rest?”

“I guess.” Tails put a hand on the pilot's chair to glance over Rouge's shoulder, “I think that's it. Can you find a way in?”

“I'm sure I can manage.”

The darkness fell over them like a curtain when Rouge flew the jet into the broken docking bay. She flicked the headlights on, and everyone blinked when the harsh white metal burned their retinas. Rouge was careful as she parked, pulling a flashlight from her pocket as she snapped the top of the flier open.

The first thing that Sonic noticed was how glad he was that they'd brought their coats, because it was _cold!_ Sonic's teeth were already chattering, and he hid his sensitive ears in his hood to try and conserve their warmth. Tails was having trouble getting out of the jet because his hands were already growing numb.

“Come on, Buddy.” Sonic unzipped his coat so Tails could climb inside. Tails huddled into the warmth, and Sonic rezipped his coat on over him, “Better?”

Tails nuzzled into Sonic's shoulder, “Mhm.”

“Guys! Let's go!” Knuckles ushered them forward, and Sonic gathered up the cold fox in his arms. He luckily wasn’t very heavy, so Sonic could still keep up just fine.

“Aw.” Amy gave Tails’ ear a pinch, “You’re so cute, Tails!”

_“Who is there? Show yourselves, inferior creatures!”_

All eight of them froze in the hallway. A heavy robotic voice was coming from the next room, the one they would have to get through if they wanted to reach the rest of the facility.

Rouge was the first to snap out of it, “We aren’t here to cause any trouble. We’re just looking for a fugitive.”

The group entered the room, where a tall stocky robot was guarding the next few doors.

_“If the fugitive you refer to is Shadow, he has ordered me to guard this room and let no one pass.”_ the robot lifted his arms, exposing rocket launchers in his shoulders, _“No one shall pass. I am the ultimate E-series robot. Bow before E-123 Omega.”_

Well, this was good news, wasn’t it? Surely Metal couldn’t get through to where Shadow was, so he was safe, right?

It was a bit warmer in here, so Sonic unzipped his coat to let Tails down, “Omega, is Shadow okay?”

_“Affirmative. Shadow is in good health.”_

Somehow, that didn’t make Sonic feel any better, “C-can we at least check on him? Please?”

_“I was ordered to let no one pass.”_ Omega continued to stand in their way like a soldier, _“I was given no exceptions.”_

Rouge scoffed, “It’s one of Robotnik’s robots, it’s not going to listen to us.”

_“Robotnik?”_ Omega’s voice dripped with venom, a stark contrast to the monotone voice he had just been using, _“Do not associate me with that meatbag. It would be my honor to crush his skull for his betrayal.”_

Sonic grabbed Rouge’s arm before she had a chance to attack, “Rouge, _stop!”_

“It won’t let us through!” Rouge yanked her arm from Sonic’s grasp.

“But what if it kills you!?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine.”

Rouge began to fight Omega, and Sonic was left scrambling for an excuse to intervene, but as the fight wore on, he began to realize that Omega was easily distracted as he fired at Rouge. Recognizing an opportunity, he turned to the rest of the group to whisper, “Can you guys keep distracting him? I'm going to find Shadow.”

With seven targets to watch, Sonic easily slipped by unnoticed. He only hoped nobody destroyed each other before he could get back.

Once the fight receded away from him, the rest of the space station began to fade into lifelessness. The place was immaculately clean, and he came across several playrooms full of toys and books, probably for Maria, but the light from the sun also created long dark shadows that gave the whole place a distinct oppressive feeling. Sonic found himself rubbing the goosebumps out of his arms as he trekked onward.

Some of the rooms he knew from the old photos, and some of them were new to him, but it was such a big facility that he nearly found himself getting lost. Fortunately, the walls and floors were still scratched up from age despite being clean, so he could recognize when he was getting turned around.

Finally, he came across a door that wouldn't open. It gave him a bad feeling, but he had no idea how to proceed. He banged on the door with both fists, dug his fingers into the side of the door to try and yank it open, but no matter what angle he tried, he couldn't get it open.

Sonic tried looking around him for anything he could use to pry the door open with, but found nothing. A new plan forming in his head, he went back through previous doors to see if they contained anything useful. He found his answer when he opened what appeared to be a broom closet, and inside was a toolbox which contained a crowbar. Good enough. Sonic grabbed it and headed back to the door that was stuck, spinning it a few times before he wedged it into the gap where the door met the wall. After some prying and tugging, the door finally creaked open, though still reluctantly, so Sonic only made the gap just big enough to fit inside.

This room was familiar, it was the room where Shadow was first created. Everything from the photo was here, including the tube full of wiring and the giant control panel, but that's not what Sonic saw first.

It was the black stain. It looked like a splatter, and it was spread across the entire lab. Sonic followed the trail of the splatter with his eyes, not wanting to believe what his eyes were telling him.

And there, lying on his stomach with a pistol in his hand, was Shadow, the splatter having come from a wound in his head.

Sonic couldn't even process what he was seeing. His gaze was fixed, but his brain was trying so hard to rationalize it and have it make sense to him. None of it fit together. None of it was working. Sonic was so sure he would lose his voice for the rest of his life after seeing something so traumatic, but instead, he did the opposite.

He screamed.

***


	20. Chapter 20

**January - Year 2**

“Oh god, no no no no this isn't real! It can't be real! This isn't happening! Help, someone help me!”

Sonic kept rambling to himself, because he was afraid if he stopped the silence would drive him crazy. Shadow killed himself!? Was it because of how guilty he felt over taking people's lives!? Or was it because he didn't want Black Doom controlling him anymore!? Either way, it wasn't right! It didn't seem like anything Shadow would do! What kind of mindset was he in that he felt this was the best solution!?

Sonic had already seen someone’s life taken in front of him, someone he cared about no less, but somehow, the idea that someone would take their own life was so much worse. It made his stomach twist into so many painful knots. Shadow said he would keep himself safe! Why would he lie about that!? Just so Sonic would listen to him!?

His breath caught in his throat when he thought he saw something. Shadow moved. It was so slight, but it was there.

“Sh-Shadow?” Sonic's voice quivered, “Are, are you okay?”

Just when Sonic had begun to fear that he was just seeing things, he heard a low groan from Shadow, and his eyelids fluttered open.

“Shadow!” Sonic ran to his side to lift him up, “You're alive! Oh my god, don't scare me like that! What were you thinking!?”

Shadow dropped the gun, holding his head in one hand, “Ow...Sonic? What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you, Shadow!” Sonic tried to shake him, “And what do you mean what am I-! You're crazy!?”

Shadow was still clearly out of it, like he was in a half-asleep phase of consciousness. He slumped over like a ragdoll, and Sonic was forced to keep a tight grip on his shoulders just to keep him upright.

“I don't know...” Shadow blinked slowly, “What are you...”

As life returned to Shadow's eyes after he'd clearly been so dazed, his face scrunched up in confusion, “What? Why am I...?” a myriad of emotions flickered across Shadow's face as his memories slowly returned to him, his eyes settling on the gun he'd just been holding as he landed on one final expression.

Pure horror.

“Oh no...” Shadow stared into Sonic's still panic-stricken gaze, “H-how did you find me? You weren't supposed to, d-didn't Omega-!?” Shadow pushed Sonic away, slipping on the dried black stain. His eyes snapped to it, “No, Sonic...”

“I was so scared! Why would you do this!? It doesn't make any sense!”

“Sonic!” Shadow swept him up in a hug as Sonic cried, somewhat out of shock and terror, but mostly out of relief, “Sonic, I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

“But why were you like this anyway!? You must have known I would come looking for you!”

“Wha- didn't you get my letter!?”

“Well yeah but then Metal stole our emeralds and I was afraid you were in danger but now I see you had no intention of keeping yourself safe like you promised and-!” Sonic hiccuped, his voice too wobbly to keep rambling.

“I'm sorry I lied to you, Sonic.” Shadow held onto both sides of Sonic's head as he looked into the poor child's eyes, “I really am. I didn't want any of this, I really didn't.”

Sonic sniffed, sadly rubbing his eyes, “Then why did you do it?”

Shadow was quiet, silently scratching at the old stain on his head.

“Sonic!?”

Sonic turned around to face the doorway. Tails had slipped inside for a moment, “Guys! I found him!”

Omega ripped the door off its hinges, and the entire group stood there, gaping at the scene in front of them.

Shadow's gaze turned guilty on Omega, “I'm sorry.”

Omega was at first under the impression that Sonic had used the gun on Shadow, but Sonic didn't have any of the splatter on him while it covered the rest of the room, and it was also too dry to have been made recently. Plus, if someone else had shot him, Shadow would be angry, not sad.

He didn't want to accept the alternative though, _“I demand an explanation.”_

Sonic gave Shadow's stained hand a squeeze, “You might as well tell everyone while they're here.”

Shadow covered his face in shame. He didn't answer right away, he just let the electronics in the room hum in the background while he collected his thoughts.

“I...I didn't want to do this.” he meekly dropped his hands into his lap, “But after everything I've done, whether under that demon's influence or not, I realized that if I was gone, nobody could use me for evil again.” he closed his eyes and shook his head, “Not even myself.”

Sonic wanted to interrupt, but he bit his tongue. He would wait until Shadow's story was finished before he spoke his mind, because you bet he had a lot to say.

“It was...difficult, coming to that conclusion. Basically, I used Black Doom's emerald against him to seal him away in his own crystal, then I hid the emeralds and posted Omega as a guard at the entrance. If it, um, makes you feel better, I also ordered him to spare his opponents if they gave up, and he agreed, even if it's somewhat against his nature.” Omega angrily came forward and Shadow put up his hands, “I know, you kept your promise and I didn't. I'm getting to that.”

Sonic touched Shadow's arm, and Shadow wrapped his hand over the other's.

“Anyway.” Shadow sighed, “I came back here, because this place has such happy memories for me, and I figured I should die in the same place I was born. Plus, nobody will randomly come across me here, not even that stupid scientist.” Shadow lazily swept his gaze over the room, carefully standing up to retrieve a small piece of metal stuck in the splatter, “This is what I used.”

Sonic took the piece from him. He didn't notice at first because of how hefty it was, but it was a bullet, presumably from the gun Shadow had been holding. Sonic realized sickeningly that that meant this had passed through Shadow's head, and he dropped it in shock. Shadow retrieved it slowly, like he wasn't at all disturbed by the same thought.

“Normal bullets don't work on me.” Shadow explained, “They just deflect off my skin, so I needed something special. Did you notice anything about it?”

Sonic scrutinized the bullet, then he shook his head.

“Hm. Maybe it's only obvious to me.” Shadow held the bullet between his fingertips, “This bullet is plated with silver, famously useful against the supernatural. I thought it would be enough to kill me. After all, I'm not a full demon, but when I realized I hadn't actually died, well...I don't remember much else after that. Maybe I simply went comatose.”

His voice was matter-of-fact, like he was simply teaching them a lesson in a classroom and not describing how he could put a bullet through his own head. It kind of made Sonic feel sick, though he supposed he was grateful that Shadow wasn't panicking or crying in horror, but looking at the calm demeanor of the hedgehog in front of him...he honestly wasn't sure which he would have preferred.

No, Shadow _was_ panicking, just not in an obvious way. Sonic could see it in the way he stiffly held his posture, the way his hands shook, the way his eyes would dart back and forth among the many horrified faces that were watching him.

“I...” Shadow dropped the bullet, hiding his face in his hands, “I'm so sorry...”

Sonic knitted his eyebrows together, “Sorry that you tried to do yourself in? Or sorry that we found you like this?”

Shadow flinched.

“You do realize what this means, don't you?” Sonic's horror was morphing into anger, “It means I've failed as a hero. I said I would protect you, and I kept my end of the promise, but you didn't. Do you have any idea how much that hurts? To know I failed someone when I was sure they would be okay?”

Shadow's legs collapsed, making him crumple on the floor, “I'm so sorry.”

“If you're really sorry, then act like it!” Sonic was yelling now, teetering on the edge of hysteria, “We could have helped you! If you feel guilty about what you did, then you should have tried to fix the problem instead of assuming that simply erasing yourself from the picture would solve everything!”

Shadow snapped his head up at Sonic's hurt expression, “But-!”

“Do you have any idea...” Sonic cursed his voice for cracking, “...what I would have done? If you had succeeded?”

Shadow blinked, a single tear trailing down his face and falling into the slippery black stain. He didn't say anything else as Sonic dropped onto his knees to wrap Shadow in another hug.

“Let us help you.” Sonic said simply, “You don't have to be evil. You could even be a hero if you want, like me. You can go back to the people you've hurt and apologize and make it up to them. You could help us stop Robotnik's plan for world domination, just please don't try anything this stupid again!”

Shadow didn't move at first, but he slowly returned the hug, stroking Sonic's back until his cries slowed and he was able to stand up again.

Shadow faced the rest of the group, still frozen in place, and tried to square his shoulders, “Sonic. Omega. Everyone. I'm sorry I lied to you.”

Sonic put his hand on Shadow's shoulder, encouraging him with a thumbs up.

“I-I'm sorry I made a promise I had no intention of keeping. I'm sorry I hurt myself, I...” he sniffed, dropping his gaze to the floor, “I'm sorry I'm such a failure-!”

“Nope, try again.” Sonic hit Shadow's back and he stood up straight.

“I'm sorry, that...” Shadow took a second to breathe, “I'm sorry that I left you all with a mess to clean up. I'm sorry that I hurt you, I'm sorry that you had to see me like this, I'm sorry to all those people I mowed down because I was trying to do the right thing...” Shadow's hands squeezed into fists, “I'm sorry that I couldn't save my best friend, and...and I'm sorry that I forgot what she stood for...”

Sonic waited until he was done to talk again, “Okay, now it's time for you to start doing. You can't undo the bad things you did, but you can make it right. I know you can.”

Shadow crossed his arms, “And If I can't?”

Sonic left Shadow's side to rejoin his group of friends, “Then you have all of us to help you.”

Shadow inhaled, then he grit his teeth and looked out the window into space. The only window in the room.

“I'm touched, Sonic.” Shadow stared at the Earth below them, “Thank you.”

Sonic beamed, his spirits finally lifted after that dreary conversation, “You're welcome!”

Shadow continued to stare at the planet. None of the others had anything to say, so they simply stood there as Shadow was lost in his own thoughts.

“Maria used to dream about going to Earth.” Shadow finally said, “I'd never been there, and she was raised here since she was a baby. She used to look at pictures on the computer and make up fanciful stories about how beautiful it was down there. She said she wanted me to come with her.”

Shadow locked eyes with Sonic, still clearly sad, but also kind of...hopeful?

“If I could see her again, just one more time...” Shadow covered his mouth as he squeezed his eyes shut, “I would tell her that the world is just as wonderful as she said it would be.” he took a deep, shaky breath, “You were right all along, Sonic. The world is worth saving, even with its flaws.”

Sonic nodded, “I'm glad you agree. Now come on, you've got things to do.”

“I know, but...” Shadow hit his forehead on the window, “Oh no, where do I start?”

“I think I have a few ideas!” Rouge stomped forward with a pair of handcuffs, “You're under arrest for breaking and entering, assault, theft, and running from the authorities!”

“You know what?” Shadow didn't struggle as he was handcuffed, “That's fair.”

_“Awaiting further commands, Shadow.”_

“Oh, Omega!” Shadow bit his lip, “Um, you don't have to follow my commands anymore. Just use your best judgment, and don't attack anyone if they don't attack you first. Can you do that?”

_“Affirmative. Deleting previous commands. Do not attack unless attacked first.”_

“Good. Remember that.”

The rest of the group parted like the red sea to let Rouge leave with Shadow.

“Okay, guys.” Sonic flicked his nose, “Let's get out of here.”

***


	21. Chapter 21

**May - Year 2**

Not much had happened from the beginning of the year to now. Sonic was holding onto the three emeralds for now, and Omega was just kind of...around. He never really did anything unless Eggman's robots were nearby. It was clear Shadow did something for him though, because Omega was fiercely loyal to him, calling him “a trustworthy organic lifeform”. They were all united on their hatred of Omega's creator though, so Sonic didn't mind.

He hadn't seen Shadow since he was arrested, but he'd heard on the news that Shadow was moved from the high-priority imprisonment camp to the mental ward when he refused to fight back against the pissed off guards that tried to beat him up. Sonic was horrified, but once the story got out, all the guards that used unnecessary violence were fired. Some people thought the crime against Shadow was justified because of how violent he had been in the past, and it took every ounce of self-control in Sonic's entire being to not strangle everyone who said that. He tried not to think about it though. He was sure that if those people had seen what he had, they would understand.

“Sonic?”

Sonic opened his eyes. He had been on the verge of falling asleep as he lay on the roof of Chuck's house. He sat up to look over the edge at the ground, “Hey, Silver.”

Silver flew up to the roof to join him, “There you are. Listen, we need to get back on the plan to overthrow Robotnik, I feel like that's slowed down.”

“Right, of course.” Sonic set his head on one knee, “Come sit down.”

Silver did, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his ankles, “For starters, I found this in the woods.”

“An emerald.” Sonic took the pink emerald from Silver, “That's four. Wait, where in the woods did you find it?”

“I can't believe I didn't think of it before.” Silver watched Sonic put the gem away, “There's this overgrown area in the woods that used to be a temple to the ancient Gaia. It was taken care of by Annie, the owner of the pink emerald, until Sonar's betrayal.”

“Cool. Thanks, Silver.” Sonic tried to think of what their original plan had been, but besides collecting the emeralds, he didn't think they actually had one. Tails had made a little more progress on the Eclipse Cannon and how it worked, but mostly everyone had been shaken up by the situation with Shadow, and there wasn't a single day that went by where Sonic didn't worry about him. The cannon had completely slipped his mind.

Silver leaned forward, “What are you thinking about?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry, but,” Sonic scratched his ear, “Did we even have a plan?”

“I did.” Silver drummed his fingers on the roof, “Though, I don't remember if I told you what it was.”

“You said something about summoning the ancients?”

“Ah, that's right.” Silver lay on his back, crossing one leg over his knee, “We need all the emeralds to do it, and we need to prove ourselves to the spirit of Chaos, which resides inside the Master Emerald, but considering how you already used them to help Vanilla, all we really need are the rest of the emeralds.”

“Oh yeah.” it was coming back to him now.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Silver rested his hands behind his head, “What's that thing you do with your hands?”

Sonic didn't remember using sign language all that often since they met Silver. He usually only did it recently when he was watching the news to get updates on Shadow, or when he had to be quiet to pull off a prank, usually with Tails’ help.

“I’m surprised you even noticed.” Sonic lay back on the roof, parallel to Silver, “I speak sign language, because I didn’t talk when I was little, and I still sometimes lose the ability to talk when I'm under a lot of emotional stress.”

“Ohhh, it's sign language...” Silver sat up again, “Could you teach me? I've always wanted to learn that.”

“No problem, but I have a question for you.” Sonic laced his fingers together over his stomach, “Why were you and Blaze in that burnt house when we found you?”

He expected Silver to avoid the question. After all, they'd been getting to know him over all this time and it was clear that fire was a sensitive subject for him, but when Silver began to visibly panic, Sonic was more than a little shocked.

“I don't want to talk about it.” Silver's breathing sped up as the teal spots on his body began to glow, “I, I just, it was bad and-!”

“Silver!” Sonic grabbed Silver's arms to shake him, “Hey, hey, it's okay. Calm down.”

“I-I-I'm sorry.” Silver hugged himself, easily calming when he realized that tears were gathering in his eyes, “Ugh, I just haven't thought of this for so long, I've been so happy since I moved in I completely forgot about it.”

“Well, I'm glad.” Sonic clicked his tongue as he thought, “Um, you don't have to tell me, but I would like to know, you know?”

“Silver?”

The two boys looked over the roof, where Blaze was looking around for them.

“Up here, Blaze.”

“Oh hey, Sonic.” Blaze jumped onto the roof with characteristic grace, “Silver, were you crying?”

Silver sniffed, “No.”

Blaze sighed, kneeling down to wipe the tears from his face, “You don't need to hide this from me, Silver. We're best friends.”

“I know, but I want your respect, and you always tell me that I'm naive, and...you know?”

“You already have my respect.” Blaze leaned away, her hands folded in her lap, “How else would I feel about the one who sticks with me despite my fire powers?”

Silver looked away from her, reaching up to scratch his head.

“Uh, guys?”

Silver and Blaze turned to look at Sonic.

“So...I was just curious.” he twisted his hands together, “What happened at the burnt house?”

Blaze gave Silver a sympathetic look before he said, “Go ahead and tell him, I'm going to get a snack.”

Blaze waited until the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard, and she shifted into a seated position where her legs were to the side. She wasn't nearly as ethereal as Lady Earthia, but she still carried herself with such grace that Sonic was impressed. Cats really could always land on their feet, it seemed.

“That was Silver's house, once.” Blaze began, “He lived there with his foster mother until...well, I accidentally started a fire and couldn't stamp it out until it was too late. I don't remember if the woman escaped, but it took a long time before I got over that. Silver was the only reason I got through it, even though...some of the fire...made it to him. I'm just glad it wasn't permanent and all of his fur grew back, or I'm sure I would never forgive myself.”

Sonic tried to reach out to her, but retracted his hand when she flinched away, “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be, it wasn't your fault.” Blaze fiddled with her ponytail, “Silver forgave me for what happened, but if anything, I think that makes me feel worse about it, because he's such a sweetheart. I'm so grateful that he stuck with me for all these years, I don't know what I would do without him.”

Sonic remembered a previous conversation he had with Silver a couple months ago, “You should actually tell him that. He said the same thing about you.”

Blaze snapped her gaze to him, “What?”

“Yeah, what was it? He said you were, it's coming to me, uhhh...mature? Strong and graceful? Perceptive, perhaps? He actually described himself as a nervous wreck, and you were the one that kept his feet on the ground.”

Blaze smiled, though it was clearly strained, “Well, that is half true. I swear, even when he's physically on the ground, he has his head in the clouds. It's kind of cute, and that's why I'm so protective of him. I don't want his rosy view of the world to be crushed.”

Blaze wrung her hands together before she artfully jumped off the roof, easily landing on her feet even though she always wore high heels, “Well, I've told you enough for one day, and please don't spread this story to anyone else. I was very young at the time, and I assure you it will never happen again.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

Blaze gave a grateful nod before retreating back into the house, leaving Sonic alone with his thoughts.

***


	22. Chapter 22

**July - Year 2**

Sonic stumbled as he carried what must have been like twenty or so bags of groceries from the supermarket. He was glad they actually had their own wheelbarrow at this point, because there was no way he would be able to run home with all of this bulk.

“Yeah yeah, I got everything. You realize all of this was thirty thousand rings, right?”

Tails was talking on the phone with Knuckles, who had been loudly complaining that the house was out of food. Of course, this wasn't the first time they'd been grocery shopping, but because of just how little they'd been shopping in the past few months, it meant they needed to buy more than usual, hence the haul they now had to carry out to their wheelbarrow.

Oh yeah, and Tails had a chunky cell phone now that was connected to the house phone at home. Would he stop at nothing?

“We're coming with your grapes, Knuckles.” Tails shifted his grip on the phone once his load was in the wheelbarrow, “We'll be there in-! ACK!”

A green streak flew past them and snatched Tails’ phone right out of his hand, knocking him over and startling Sonic into dropping all his bags.

“Hey!” Sonic immediately dashed after the streak, but it was remarkably fast! Sonic was actually having trouble keeping up, which was new for him, “Give that back, you thief!”

It slowed just long enough to reveal that it was a green hawk on a hoverboard, who lifted a peace sign as he disappeared again. In his other hand was the cell phone he had stolen, and Sonic doubled down on his efforts to catch up, even though the friction from such high speeds was burning the soles of his shoes.

Sonic reached out, trying desperately to grab the phone as soon as he could, because if they got too fast, the force would begin to cause damage to nearby buildings and wildlife. Finally, Sonic tripped when searing fire shot up his legs, but he managed to knock the phone out of the hawk's grasp on the way down. It cracked when it hit the pavement, but Sonic scrambled to grab it, hoping that it wasn't damaged beyond repair.

“Wow! Almost the speed of sound!” the hawk's voice was annoying, as he spoke with an air of arrogance, “I can see why you have such a reputation, but of course, it's nothing compared to me!”

Sonic tried to stand, but immediately fell backwards when his feet screamed at him. He brought a hand to his mouth when he saw that his shoes had been completely worn through and exposed that the flesh on his feet was completely red and raw.

“Hahahaha!” the hawk hopped off his hoverboard to leer at Sonic, “I should have known, you wouldn’t know true speed if it hit you in the face! Remember the name Jet the Hawk, kid, because you'll be hearing it everywhere soon!”

Jet disappeared, and Sonic felt an involuntary blush creep up his face.

“Sonic!” Tails fell to Sonic’s side, “You’re hurt!”

Sonic’s gaze numbly fell on the cracked cell phone in his hands, too afraid to sign. He didn’t want the public to see and start spreading rumors, as he was already gathering a thankfully sympathetic crowd, but a crowd nonetheless.

“Here, I’ll carry you home.” Tails lifted Sonic’s arm over his shoulders, who tried to silently hand the phone back to him, “I don’t care about that right now! You’re hurt! Let’s go!”

Sonic’s grip on the phone slipped, and it cracked again on the pavement as Tails dragged him away. He couldn’t help but feel that maybe the chase had been pointless.

“UGH those GODDAMN BIRDS!” Knuckles punched a hole in the wall, “There was this big albatross in town today and he constantly dropped things on me so I would be forced to lift them off!”

No wonder Knuckles had been grumpy today.

“You're paying for that.” Tails pointed to the crumbling drywall.

“That's the least of my problems right now!” Knuckles winced rubbing his sore arm, “For crying out loud, he called me weak! Because he dropped a bus on my head and I couldn't get it off!”

“Hey, Knuckles.” Tails placed a comforting hand on his fist, “It's okay.”

Knuckles let out a long and heavy sigh.

As this was happening, Sonic was reclined on the couch. They'd had to buy all new furniture after Metal's purge of the house, and Sonic was finding that he quite liked their new decor. Tails had suggested aloe vera for his burnt feet, so he rubbed the cooling gel all over them and put new socks on. That had been his only pair of shoes, so he wouldn't be able to run too fast for awhile.

“But that is reminding me.” Tails sat on the couch, leaning forward on his knees, “A swallow made fun of my new phone when I had it in public. She...she called it a piece of junk.”

Sonic recalled that Tails avoided taking the phone home with them when they went back to get the discarded groceries. He couldn't imagine why, as it did what it was built for just fine, but now that Tails was admitting this, it was starting to make more sense.

“I don't know, I tried to keep using it, but then Jet took it from me and you ended up getting hurt.”

“How could you have possibly known it was going to hurt me?” Sonic sat up in his plush pillows, “I thought that phone was just fine, I mean, it was only a prototype, what was she expecting?”

“Something finished, obviously.” Tails massaged his forehead, “I can't even look at it now. She would have been able to make something much better in a shorter amount of time.”

Something flared in Sonic's chest. He already had to keep reminding Tails that he was incredibly skilled and intelligent even though he was so young, and someone else was trying to tear that down. Then again, the birds had shaken all of them, as Sonic couldn't deny the embarrassment of losing to Jet despite his clear advantage, and Knuckles getting vietnam flashbacks of being called weak by his tribe members.

“Tails, she easily could have been bluffing.”

“But she built the hoverboards! I could never do that...”

Sonic's heart broke when angry tears gathered in Tails’ eyes.

“What's going on?”

Amy, Silver, and Blaze entered the room, all holding glasses of chocolate milk.

Sonic sighed, “Tails, even if you could never build something, that doesn't matter. You're just a boy, you can't be expected to do everything.”

Tails didn't reply, and Sonic had the sudden urge to jump off the couch to give him a big hug.

“Aw, Tails.” Amy set her cup on the coffee table, “You can't compare yourself to other people.”

“But I'm already not as good as my dad!”

An ominous shadow fell over the room. Tails had barely talked about his parents since their bodies were discovered, and from the way Tails hugged his knees close to himself, thinking about them again was painful.

“Tails...” Sonic opened his arms, “Come here.”

Tails stiffly jumped to the floor, his head down as he ran into Sonic's embrace. Sonic held him close as he cried, making a mental note to track down that swallow and give her a good punch in her smug face.

“We have to find those birds again.” Knuckles said, “I have a few things to say to them.”

***


	23. Chapter 23

**October - Year 2**

Sonic put a testing foot on the board Tails had been building. After several elaborate prototypes, Tails was certain that he had ironed out most of the problems and was only now trying to get the details right, and even though the dark circles under his eyes were getting deeper, he refused to sleep despite how much Sonic hounded him because of it. It also didn't help that Knuckles was inhaling all the meat in the house and spending all day at the gym, and Sonic was becoming obsessed with the perfect shoes that would let him run at his potential max speed, basically all three of them were picking up bad habits from their encounter with the Babylon Rogues.

“Which prototype is this?”

“No prototype!” Tails tired eyes lifted in a smile, “This is the final version!”

“Wow. Not bad!” Sonic jumped up onto the board. It swayed a bit, but it held his weight just fine.

“Here.” Tails jumped onto his own, a yellow version to Sonic's blue, “Watch me.”

Tails leaned to the side, and the board swiftly moved in that direction. It was easy for him to tilt the board to change the angle and trajectory of his board, stepping hard on the back of it to speed up and the front to slow down. He made it look so easy that Sonic wasn't expecting to instantly lose his balance and fall on his face.

“Whoa!” Tails jumped down to help Sonic stand, “It's _subtle_ movements, buddy!”

Sonic couldn't help but grin in amusement every time Tails used Sonic's nickname for him on himself, “Alright alright. Subtlety isn't my specialty, but I'll try.”

The second time, Sonic leaned just a sliver to the left, and the board nearly crashed into the wall on his right. It took a bit of experimenting to get the hang of it, but soon the board was starting to feel more like a high-tech vehicle and less like a floaty annoyance.

“Hey.” Sonic bounced on the board, swaying back and forth easily, “This is…”

“Crazy? Awesome? Cool?” Tails offered.

“Well, yeah, but also...” a huge grin spread across Sonic’s face as he flew the board right out of the garage, “This is FUN!”

“Whoa! Careful!” Tails laughed as he flew out on his own board to join his friend, “I call that one, ‘Blue Star’. Take good care of it.”

Sonic gaped, “I get to _keep_ it!?”

“Knock yourself out, my friend.”

_“Hell_ yeah! _Thank you,_ Tails!” Sonic sped into the forest, winding around the trees, _“Yahoo!”_

Sonic was afraid at first that standing on a swaying board in the air would feel too much like being on a boat, but now that he was on it for real, it felt more like he'd sprouted wings! He was overwhelmed with a kind of freedom he'd never felt before, especially when he figured out that he could kick his board into the air and pull off skateboard tricks before coming back down. It was a bit awkward at first, but he was already working out the kinks in his technique, and it was feeling more natural as he rode on. Finally, he was comfortable enough in the air that he took his new board to the city, and he got a kick out of the shocked expressions on the people he passed.

“Sonic the Hedgehog!”

Sonic turned to the familiar annoying voice, “Oh, hi Jet.”

Jet recoiled like he'd just been slapped, _“‘Oh hi’!?_ I come back to humor you with a rematch and all you can say is _‘Oh hi’!?”_

“I don't really want to race you, Jet.” well, that wasn't entirely true, his pride was wounded for sure, but he'd only been on the board for about 15 minutes, and he wasn't in the mood to lose again.

“Oh really?” Jet ran his board in front of Sonic, forcing him to stop, “Then where did you get that? Why else would you have your own extreme gear if you didn't want to race me?”

“Bold of you to assume I'm so taken with you that you're the center of my universe.” Sonic mockingly placed a hand over his chest, “I mean, I'm flattered, I guess.”

Jet's entire face turned beet-red, and Sonic resisted the urge to laugh like an idiot, with _some_ amount of success.

_“Did you just...?”_ Jet growled before he began to shout, “That's it! I’ve had enough of this! There's a temple in the forest, whoever gets there first is the winner!”

A big lump of dread dropped into Sonic's stomach, and Jet grinned at the change of demeanor.

“I'll give you a fair start.” Jet cocked his head to the main square, “We'll start over there, and the temple is in the middle of the forest, between the city and the big open field on the other side. If I'm going to win, then I'm going to do it right.”

For just that moment, Jet almost sounded...kind? But he went right back to his usual self when they were standing behind the roundabout, holding their extreme gear in their arms. Sonic tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but found that his mouth had become unusually dry.

“Ready?” Jet counted down as the two of them ran forward, “Three, two, one, GO!”

Sonic jumped on the board and sped up as fast as he could, but Jet got up to speed much faster and was already a green dot in the distance. Sonic caught up, though, and they raced the rest of the way through the city in close proximity, seesawing back and forth between first and second place.

Sonic was temporarily relieved when they hit the forest. He had grown up exploring these woods, so he knew them well, but if anything, Jet knew them better. His movement around the trees was almost, well, like a hawk soaring through the clouds, but Sonic was quickly getting the hang of it, so when they came across the thickest wall of trees, he knew the perfect shortcut to get around them, effectively giving him an advantage over Jet. Even with that advantage though, Jet was still really close behind him.

Sonic saw the temple appear in the distance. It definitely appeared to be a shrine to the ancient of the Earth, made mostly out of old bricks of mud and clay. It was covered in ivy, and it reminded him of the pyramids on Angel Island.

_“Come ooon!”_

Jet was leaning so far off his board, he probably should have fallen off by now. Sonic wasn't brave enough to lean that far, so Jet was slowly catching up-!

Sonic couldn't slow down fast enough, so he hit the wall of the temple, flying backwards and landing hard on his back while his board landed face up undamaged. Sonic caught his breath as he stood up and coughed a few times, worried at first that he hadn't gotten there soon enough.

“I..." Jet was shaking, still easily standing on his board, “I _lost!?”_

Sonic was elated. He stood up to grab his board, trying to hide his smile from the devastated hawk. He briefly considered rubbing it in Jet's face, shaming him for being such a loser to a mere beginner, but he stopped himself. Sure, Jet had done that exact thing to him so he totally deserved it, but the poor guy looked like he was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Surely that was punishment enough, and he didn't want to give Jet an excuse to do it to him if they ever decided to race again in the future.

And anyway, it was so mean-spirited. He wouldn't openly mock someone unless they were clearly a villain.

Sonic approached Jet slowly, staying on the ground to appear more docile, “Hey.”

Jet snapped his gaze to him, his entire body reflecting nothing but rage.

Sonic smiled as he lifted his hand for a handshake, “Good game.”

Jet scoffed, violently turning on his heel to fly back towards the city.

With Jet no longer occupying his attention, Sonic turned to look at the temple. He hadn't noticed it before, but the entire place was blanketed in such a serene feeling of calm, it was just like how Sonic always felt in nature. His heartbeat slowed after the intensity of the race, and he had the distinct impression that if he slept here out in the open all night, he would awake in the morning well-rested and perfectly safe.

He was curious, to say the least. What was this place hiding besides the emerald?

***


	24. Chapter 24

**October - Year 2**

Sonic discovered through a bit of research _(Metal thankfully hadn't gotten to the library in his scourge for the emeralds)_ that Gaia actually had seven different temples, one on each continent. Supposedly, this is where the emeralds regained their power until they were needed by the ancients, and the one near Station Square was the one for Annie’s emerald.

Another fascinating detail he'd uncovered was the different continents actually being like “kingdoms” that each ancient ruled over. Talesh for example led his tribe in an age of knowledge and intellectual enlightenment with libraries on every corner, while Ember believed that maintaining focus and discipline was what led to self-improvement, so she filled her tribe with schools and well-trained teachers.

A question mark formed in Sonic’s mind, and he turned the pages of his current book until he found the right name.

Sonar. Apparently, it was perfectly understandable that Silver mistook Sonic for him, because his only physical description was one of a blue hedgehog. Sonar’s philosophy in life had been one of being true to yourself and being true to others, using his powers of speed simply as a means to that end rather than his most important trait, which really put into perspective how much it stung when he abandoned everyone and ran away. It also mentioned that while most of the ancients appeared to mortals several times over the past thousand or so years, Sonar hadn’t been seen by anyone since he ran away, which made Sonic wonder once again if he was actually killed.

Now, with this knowledge under his belt, he brought his group of six friends back to the temple where they could hopefully find some more answers.

“Hey, Silver.” Sonic ran his hand over the old bricks as he entered the temple, “Where exactly did you find the pink emerald?”

“Nowhere near the entrance.” Silver used his powers to light the dark caverns, “I suspect any further out, and it would have been stolen.”

“Makes sense.” Sonic nearly tripped when he didn’t see the staircase. This part of the temple had a ton of identical-looking doors, made mostly of carved stone. The staircase Sonic had nearly tripped over was a place where a door had been opened, “Is this the door you went through?”

“Wow, how did you know.” Silver stepped carefully down the stairs in the dark, “Follow me, guys.”

The winding corridors all led to the same place in the end, explaining why Silver didn’t need to open any more doors to get to it. A lot of the rooms that led off the ordinary paths appeared to have been used for storage of things like food and hide, as well as other things like quartz statues, probably once used for worship. The final chamber was once lit with torches, but all of them had blown out, and the only glow came from the emeralds Sonic was carrying, and the powers of Silver and Blaze.

“Eek!” Amy backed into Sonic, nearly knocking him over, “Sorry. I thought I saw something.”

Sonic jumped in front of her, though she already had her hammer in her hands and was ready for a fight.

“Um...” Tails stuck by Sonic’s side uneasily, “Is this where you found the emerald? Was it on that pedestal?”

“No, surprisingly.” Silver moved to the rightmost side of the room, “I found it on the floor over here. Now that I think about it, there’s no opposition in this temple, so it makes no sense how it lasted so long.”

Sonic remembered that safe feeling the temple seemed to give him, “Maybe someone was here.”

He continued into the room, his footsteps making distinct taps on the polished floor. The pedestal was just like the one in the pyramid, except this one was covered in ivy, just like the rest of the temple. He flipped the pink emerald in his hand, and it began to glow along with the pedestal.

“Ohhh...” Silver joined Sonic as he crossed the room, “I get it! Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Maybe you thought it had simply fallen off.” Sonic carefully reached out and set the emerald in place.

A pillar of light exploded from the pedestal, pink in the middle, but gradually becoming green as it stretched outward. The entire room was now filled with the same light as the outside, casting a warm glow throughout the temple and magically lighting all the torches.

“Whoa.” Blaze said, “Hey, come look at this.”

With the light filling the cavern, old drawings became clear on the walls.

“Don't touch them!”

Blaze jumped back at the commanding tone of Tails’ voice.

“These are old.” Tails snapped a few pictures of the ancient mural, “We don't want them to crumble.”

The drawings depicted the original tale Silver told them about The Mother and the creation of mortals, but also what each individual ancient did with their respective countries. Despite having very different views on life, the seven ancients were reportedly very close, at least until Eclipse and Sonar disappeared. Platinum was the ancient who valued justice above all, so his armies were given training in complex weaponry, but Annie felt that mercy should be used as much as possible and that violence should only be a last resort. Another of the notable ancients was Shoulders, who thought being strong was the most important thing, both physically and mentally.

“Thank you.”

Every head turned to the new voice, and they all began to stare.

A tall pink hedgehog with a flowing light blue dress and a regal presence. Her skin shimmered with magic, and her quills stuck out behind her like they were defying gravity. The golden jewelry she wore sparkled with her rosy completion. Silver was the first to react.

“You're Annie, aren't you?”

Her smile was sweet and warm, “Yes, child. Oh, you'll have to forgive me, I haven't seen mortals in years. If only I had a gift, do you guys like cookies?”

Knuckles was excited to answer, but Amy spoke first, “You look like me.”

“So I do.” Annie clasped her hands in front of her chest, “You are my descendant, Amy. Your ancestors were part of my kingdom, you see, and I am so happy to see you here.”

Sonic was nearly giddy at this golden opportunity. They could ask her any question about the ancients! Or the emeralds! Or Black Doom!

“Annie.” Sonic tried to compose himself, as the atmosphere around her made him slightly anxious, “I'm sorry if this brings up painful memories, but I have to know; Did Sonar really abandon you?”

Annie's smile fell, though her regality didn't lessen, “He did not. I know he did not. I don’t know what happened to him, but he would rather set his own legs on fire than leave us willingly.” Annie wiped one perfect tear from her cheek, “You look just like him, child. I miss him so much.”

Sonic felt bad for making her cry, but his burning curiosity wouldn't let him stop, “Are all of us descendants of other ancients?”

Annie stepped closer towards them, her high-heeled boots hardly making a sound on the floor, “Yes. All of you are. Blaze is descended from Ember, Silver from Platinum, Tails from Talesh, Knuckles from Shoulders, and your friend Shadow has the blood of Eclipse. I admit, I haven't seen most of them in a long time, but I need my emerald to appear to mortals, so I couldn't appear in my physical form until you returned it to my temple.”

“Could we do it just with the emerald? Like, from wherever?”

“Yes, though it would be easier from a Gaia temple. Our power is more limited than I would like, I'm afraid.”

This new information rolled in Sonic's head.

“Will Shadow be okay?”

Annie's patient smile came back.

“I think he will be.”

***


	25. Chapter 25

**December - Year 2**

They continued their conversation until Silver suggested returning the rest of the emeralds to the other temples, and Annie agreed that would be best. Apparently, the reason the emeralds weren't at the temples anymore (for the most part) was because the ancients underestimated the greed of mortals and allowed them to get stolen. Annie could stop this problem from now on by halting trespassers at the entrance.

Another whole year, completely come and gone, but somehow, as Sonic got older, he was becoming more confident in himself and in his abilities. They were actually making progress, and Annie gave them a lot of helpful answers, particularly the locations of the other Gaia temples, but Sonic tried not to think about it right now. Today was Christmas, and everyone was gathered at Vanilla’s house to celebrate.

Sonic wasn't in the mood to party in the kitchen with everyone else, so he was laying on the couch in the foyer. He had been excited about it like he always was, and he was more than happy about giving and getting gifts (like the new shoes from Tails specifically for riding extreme gear), but without the distraction of Jet or their mission, his mind went back to Shadow. He'd stopped appearing on the news, and while that could mean he was released, the image of Shadow with a bullet wound through his head was burned into his retinas. Tails hadn't been able to track him down, so Sonic was left to worry. Someone rang the doorbell, but Sonic hardly heard it. Vanilla opened the door.

“I hope I'm not late.”

Sonic sat up, and everyone in the kitchen moved to the foyer. Could it be?

Standing at the door, a few boxes in his hands...

_“SHADOW!!!”_

Sonic ran right into him, knocking Shadow clean off his feet to give him a big hug, _“Oof!”_

“Shadow! Thank god you're okay!” happy tears sprang from Sonic's eyes, “I was so worried! Don't disappear like that!”

“Sonic!” Shadow returned the hug. Had Sonic ever heard Shadow laugh so genuinely? “I was only released a few months ago. I wanted to make it up to everyone I hurt first, and by the time I was done, it was almost Christmas anyway.”

“I'm so happy to see you.” Sonic finally let go, “But just for future reference, just, don't do that?”

Shadow's low snickering was amused as he stood up, “Of course. I'm sure my spine would appreciate that.”

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

Shadow picked up the boxes he'd dropped, “It's okay. I'm just relieved that you're so happy to see me.”

Sonic was able to get right back to the party when he didn't have to worry about Shadow anymore. Everyone surrounded him with questions, and he tried his best to answer them even as more were asked than he could answer. If it had been Sonic in his place, all of that attention might have suffocated him, but most of the crowd was in fact small children, and Shadow had the biggest smile on his face the whole time.

“Okay, guys, give him some space.” Sonic broke up the crowd.

“I don't mind.” Shadow calmed somewhat, but his smile didn't fade, “I forgot what it feels like to be cared for.”

Shadow wouldn't let them open the boxes for most of the party. Five of them were quite small, easily fitting in one of Shadow’s hands, but the last one was big enough that Shadow had to carry it under one arm. Sonic didn't bring it up, though. He figured Shadow would give the gifts to them when he was ready.

Finally, when most of the other guests had gone home, Shadow sat down with everyone who was left in the living room, including everyone he brought gifts for.

“Now, don't open them yet.” Shadow looked at the names on each box to give them to the right people, “I want to tell you a story first.”

All of the presents were wrapped in the same shiny red paper, and Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, and Silver each got one of the boxes. The biggest box went to Tails.

“Now,” Shadow sat on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees, “It's not actually true that I made _everything_ right. There's still someone important that I need to apologize to.”

His gaze went directly to Tails, who shrunk under the scrutiny.

“Let me explain.” Shadow lay one of his legs on top of the other one, “I have actually spent the last fifty or so years of my life in stasis, after Maria sent me away to Earth.” it was clear the memory hurt him, but he kept going regardless, “I was incredibly out of it when Robotnik woke me up, and he told me he was the grandson of the good doctor. Um, the one who created me. I was convinced that because humanity killed Maria, it meant that destroying everyone was justified, and if someone got in my way, I simply killed them.”

Shadow sniffed, rubbing at his eyes.

“I've been to so many places, apologizing to everyone I hurt. Not all of them forgave me, but I did my best, and now I've only got one left.” Shadow again looked at Tails, swallowing nervously, “I'm sorry, but I... _I am the one who disposed of your parents._

_“I'm so sorry.”_

Tails’ grip on the box tightened, the paper and cardboard crinkling under the strain. Shadow buried his face in his hands. Tails’ gaze was locked straight ahead, unfocused and shaky.

“Tails?” Sonic slowly wrapped an arm around him, “You okay, Buddy?”

Tails’ gaze met Shadow's, who was looking at Tails between his fingers.

“You can open the box now.” Shadow said.

Tails’ movements were mechanical, tearing the paper off slowly and lifting the lid.

“I figured you should have that back.”

Inside was a device, similar to the Miles Electric, but it was clearly sleeker and more polished, with more complex features and a wider screen. Included was two pairs of thin headsets, which were too big to fit on Tails’ head, but otherwise clearly fitted for a fox's head and ears. All three had small antennae on them, indicating that they were wireless.

Tears spilled down Tails’ face, landing on the screen of the large yet thin device, _“It's my dad's all-purpose pocket computer...”_

“I stole it off of them.” Shadow explained, “Robotnik wouldn't give it back, so I took it anyway. I think your father would have wanted you to have that.”

Tails was about to say “thank you”, but the words stuck in his throat. He set the device down. His ears were lowered. His eyes squeezed shut.

“I forgive you.”

Shadow winced, “Thank you. I don't deserve that."

“Yes you do.” Tails stood up, “You said you were sorry, and you told me the truth, and you're trying to make it right, so I forgive you.”

Shadow leaned his forehead into his palm, seemingly holding back more tears.

“Thank you, Tails.” Shadow looked up sadly, “I'm glad you at least found a new family, and I wish you nothing but the best from now on.”

Tails smiled, retrieving the device from where he left it on the ground, “Thanks, Shadow. This is more than I expected from whoever hurt my parents.”

The other five opened their smaller presents, and all of them were new pairs of gloves. Sonic's were made of a slippery kind of fiber, with a stiff cuff to stop them from slipping off. Amy's and Knuckles’ were made of some kind of faux leather painted white, Blaze's and Silver’s were lined with shiny conductors that reacted to their powers. Tails checked his box again to see if he missed anything, and he did. His pair was waterproof, and the cuffs nearly reached his elbows.

“Wow!” Sonic stretched out his hands in the new gloves, “These'll be so useful! Thanks, Shadow!”

“I figured they would help you on your mission.” Shadow's withdrawn but still positive attitude was back, “I only hope they still fit in a few years.”

A few years. That old feeling came back, but Sonic was finding that it didn't really bother him anymore.

He was at ease, and he found that it suited him just fine.

***


	26. Chapter 26

**April - Year 3**

“HA! You can never catch up with me! I’m the fastest thing in the entire universe!”

Sonic was so out of breath that his lungs burned. He'd been racing with Jet since six in the morning (it was currently, like, 7:30), and he could've sworn that his ankle had pulled a muscle. Black spots danced in his vision. How much sleep had he even gotten the previous night? He hadn't lost every race, but the ones he did lose were actual torture, as Jet's laugh reverberated on the inside of his skull like someone had swung a mallet at his head.

He shivered as Jet kept talking. Early morning in Spring was usually not known for its warmth. It didn't seem to bother the bird, though.

“Alright, I'll give you another chance this time! Best two out of-!”

“Jet, just let me go home!”

“Oh, come on! We've only just started! Here, shorter this time, we start here and-!”

“JET!” Sonic stood up straight, glaring right at his rival despite how tired he was, “You kidnapped me because you're a whiny cry baby who can't handle anyone being better than you at anything! I'm so exhausted I think I'm about to pass out, but that doesn't matter to you, does it!? Every time you win, you act like I'm inferior to you-!” Sonic forced his mouth shut. He hadn't meant to let any of that slip, but he was just so tired and frustrated.

Jet didn't react at first, but when he did, it was with a dignified snort, “This is the time I wake up every morning to practice. Where are you?”

“Um, sleeping!?” Sonic sat down on his board, willing the blood to stop rushing out of his brain, “I do checks on the town every night because that's usually when Eggman attacks. I have to be there just in case! I can't afford to wake up early like Jet the almighty god.”

 _What are you doing, you idiot!?_ Sonic wasn't trying to be a jerk, but if he had a big mouth when he was in a good mood, he was the king of sass when he was tired.

“I get it.” Sonic grabbed his board to run home, “You're a flawless prodigy and I'm a loser. You win. Can I go home now.”

An expression close to sympathy or maybe even regret crossed Jet's face, but he didn't stop Sonic as he ran away, careful not to trip in his half-asleep state.

When he finally got home and settled on his bedroom windowsill, he found that he couldn't go back to sleep. Not only did he feel bad about snapping so badly at Jet (he hadn't even really kidnapped him, he just tapped on the window and Sonic got up to confront him), but he was actually feeling ashamed that Jet kept winning against him. It didn't matter how much he practiced, it was simply Jet's specialty, and Sonic didn't like the idea of hearing that annoying laugh every time he wanted to use his gear. It was so upsetting how much Sonic was beginning to hate his gear when it used to be so fun for him.

It got to the usual time Sonic would get up in the morning, and he did his best to follow his usual morning routine. The house was out of coffee, so Sonic took a jog to the nearby cafe to grab a cup. Once he had his usual order, he took a seat by the big window in the front, letting the drink warm his hands before he sipped at the whipped cream on the top. In his opinion, cafes were sanctuaries of nice atmosphere and good drinks, and he always jumped at the excuse to visit one, even if he didn't always order.

“Yes, thank you. Keep the change.”

A tall purple hedgehog was ordering something at the counter, and somehow, she reminded him of Uncle Chuck. The way her cream-colored dress swayed with her constant fidgeting, the tapping of her running shoes on the floor, she even constantly ran her hands through her very long quills, which was another habit of his late caretaker. It took one second longer for Sonic to realize who else she reminded him of; Manik and Sonia.

His eyes widened at the thought, _No, that's impossible! She's dead!_

The hedgehog turned around, and her gaze stuck to Sonic like it was glued there. Sonic set his cup on the table, and the sound rang in his head.

She stepped closer, her gaze never wavering until she sat at the table next to him.

Sonic hardly dared to believe it.

She set her cup down, bringing both hands to her mouth, “Sonic?”

Sonic gripped the edge of the table, “Mom?”

No mistake. This was Aleena the Hedgehog, Sonic's mother and Chuck's sister.

“Sonic! I knew it was you!” Aleena carefully reached out to take Sonic's cheek in her palm, “You're still alive. Thank god.”

“Mom, I thought you were dead!” Sonic pushed Aleena's hand away, “That's what Chuck said! He told me you were killed by Robotnik!”

“I thought I was dead too.” she furiously wiped the tears from her face, “Bernie didn't make it out, but I was actually taken prisoner. Some nice young man by the name of Shadow was the one who let me go.”

“Shadow.” Sonic leaned back in his chair, “And you couldn't escape?”

“For years.” Aleena massaged her wrists, “It was so frustrating. I'm a warrior, not a damsel, but every time I tried to get out, I was in space, and all of the ships were heavily guarded, and...” she shook the memory from her head, “Nevermind. It's not important right now.”

“Wait, hold that thought.” Sonic whipped out his new phone and dialed a number. It rang a few times.

_“What?”_

“Hey, Shads. Thanks for saving my mom.”

He held back his laughter at the surprised look Aleena gave him, but it was even better when Shadow said;

_“I’m sorry, what did you say?”_

***

“I can't believe this!”

Sonic had brought Aleena back to Vector's house (the one that was likely once a storage building) and Manik was the first to start freaking out. Apparently, while Sonic was out on his own mission, Manik had been taking out various other facilities he'd identified as Eggman's, and Sonia was jumping from city to city soaking up all the information she could like a dry sponge.

“It's you!” Manik was jumping up and down, “It's you you're alive!”

“Yes! Manik, it's me!” Aleena swung her son around in the air.

“Sonic,” Sonia said, “Where on Earth did you find her!?”

“I was at the cafe, and we just ran into each other.”

“But wait.” Manik jumped to the ground, “I've always had a question; How come all of us were separated into different baskets before you led your attack against the Egghead?”

“Oh, um...” Aleena knelt down so she was on eye level with her son, “Because of the prophecy.”

Manik's entire demeanor shifted, and he was suddenly on edge, “What?”

“There was a prophecy.” Aleena swallowed, “It said that one day, me and my children would be reunited to stop Robotnik. Of course, we can't be reunited unless we're separated and-!”

“Are you kidding me?” Manik searched for the lie in Aleena's expression, “You did that on purpose?”

Aleena nodded.

Manik stepped back, “You did this? To your own children!? I spent most of my life wondering when I was going to starve! I grew up believing that my birth family didn't want me! All for some stupid prophecy!?”

It was quiet enough that Sonic's ears began to ring. This new information began to sink in, though, and he could already feel his thoughts scrambling.

“I...” Aleena wrung her hands together, “I'm sorry. I've been regretting it every day since it happened. I know sorry doesn't cut it, but I didn't know...”

Manik didn't wait for her to finish. He simply opened the front door and left.

***


	27. Chapter 27

**April - Year 3**

“Are you okay?”

Sonic rocked back and forth on his heels as he stared into the sunset on Chuck's roof, “I don't know, Sonia...”

He had...mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Shadow was arguably far more evil than his mom could ever be, and yet Sonic was very quick to forgive him. But then again, Shadow had an actual reason beyond blindly following a vague prophecy, and at least Shadow didn't abandon his own children. He didn't even torture people, Shadow had admitted that all of his kills were as swift as possible, but Manik spent most of his life in poverty.

“I just...” Sonic crossed his arms, “I definitely feel like she could have handled her situation better, but I don't know if I'm ready to hate her for it.”

“I see.” Sonia rested her hands on her hips, “I know this is going to sound terrible, but...I'm glad I was put into a situation where I was raised by Earthia. She was an amazing mother. If only Manik could have been in a better place.”

A familiar green streak flew by, but instead of zipping away with a taunt like he usually did, Jet actually seemed...kind of panicked?

“They got Storm!” Jet halted his board in front of the roof, “That scientist guy! He took one of my team members!”

“Who are you!?” Sonia said.

“Jet.” Sonic scrutinized the hawk, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I'm not good at this heroing thing! My thing is speed!” Jet pointed into the distance, where a giant airship was looming on the horizon, “Wave went in after him, but I can't get in there by myself. Help me save my team? Please?”

Sonic jumped off the roof, “Let's go!”

“I'm coming with you!” Sonia easily kept pace with Sonic, and the three of them headed towards the airship together.

“Eggman!” Sonic jumped as high as he could, bouncing on each enemy up to the top and breaking through the giant, poorly-secured trap door.

 _“Oh look! It's Sonic the Hedgehog!”_ a voice came over the loudspeaker, _“I can't believe you've so easily fallen into my trap!“_

Metal broke through the floor, his head spinning around his body as his red eyes glowed through the sudden darkness.

“Metal!” Sonic dodged Metal's sudden attack.

“Whoa!” Jet wobbled on his board, “What _is_ that!?”

After Sonic evaded the attack, he noticed was that his thoughts were no longer connected to Metal. This relieved him at first, but it was quickly replaced with horror when he realized Metal would no longer be held back by Sonic’s compassion.

_I’m sooo happy to see you again._

The voice didn’t echo in Sonic’s head. He only heard it in his ears.

“I...” Sonic lifted his fists, determined, “I won’t let you hurt them.”

_Hmph. Good luck with that._

Metal charged forward, and Sonic met his attack. Remembering Espio’s guidance, he completely dodged in order to grab him from behind, tossing him over his head onto the ground. Metal reached his arm out, tripping Sonic so he fell on his back. Luckily, before Sonic was struck again, Sonia hit Metal in the head with something big, and Metal flew backwards until he crashed into the metal wall.

“Is that-?” Sonic got to his feet, “A keyboard?”

Sonia set up her keyboard on crossed metal legs, “Yeah, man. Did you forget about your medallion?”

_Medallion._

Sonic grabbed the guitar-shaped medallion from his hammerspace pocket. All three of the siblings had been gifted these at birth and he’d completely forgotten about it. How did it work? He slipped it on over his head, and it radiated warmth against his chest.

Meanwhile, Sonia’s fingers deftly moved over the keys, playing a rendition of a classic song using synth sounds. Every time she hit each note, it created a shockwave that either stunned Metal, or just struck him completely. When Metal got close to hitting her, a strap appeared from the keyboard, which wrapped around Sonia as the legs on it disappeared. This allowed her to jump around the airship like her instrument weighed nothing.

Sonic put all his focus into the summoning of his instrument. He felt he might not need it, but he wasn’t going to risk anyone’s lives just to prove a point.

 _Please, help me._ Sonic squeezed the pendant, _Let me use your power._

The medallion heated up until it nearly burned him, glowing with a bright white light as it stretched out into a real guitar. The string became a strap, and there were two fretboards, just like on the medallion itself. It fit perfectly into Sonic’s arms, and he instantly felt that excitement over getting to play guitar again after 3 years.

Just as Metal escaped from Sonia, Sonic placed his fingertips over the frets and strummed over the strings. A clear C chord knocked Metal right off his feet, and Sonia stopped playing long enough to give a thumbs up.

Sonic turned enough to see Jet, his beak having dropped open in shock.

Sonic gave a quick wink and salute before he and Sonia began to play a stunning duet. Metal was catching on, though, and he was getting better at getting around the focused magical sound. Sonic and Sonia had begun to try getting through the rest of the airship.

“Where are the birds, Eggman!?” it was awkward to try running and playing guitar at the same time, but Sonic managed to keep the song going by holding the instrument at his right side.

_“You think I’m going to just tell you? Ha! Find them yourself, hedgehog!”_

“Sonic! Over there!” Sonia rolled away from a robot’s attack, landing on her knees and breaking into a run.

“Get away from me, you creeps!”

Wave; The mechanical rival of Tails. She was much taller than Jet, and she was purple with a white riders outfit. Sonic didn’t want an attack to hit her, so he slipped out of his strap long enough to kick the robots into a wall. He grabbed his guitar from the ground afterwards.

Before Wave could yell at him, Sonic said, “Where’s Storm?”

She grit her teeth, but gave an answer anyway, “He’s further in. I didn’t see though, one moment.”

He didn’t notice at first, but Wave was wearing a headset connected to her own device. It looked much sleeker and more professional than the Miles Electric, but not more so than the pocket computer built by Tails’ dad. She shot off in a new direction on her board, and Sonic and Sonia followed her.

“How did you do that!?”

Sonic looked up at his green rival, “Do what?”

Jet waved his arms in the air for emphasis, _“That whole thing!”_

“There he is!” Wave strapped her device to her belt, “Storm!”

“What?” the albatross got struck in the jaw from the distraction. He was even taller, and his chest was much wider than the other two. He was mostly grey and white, and he wore yellow gloves.

“Storm!” Jet soared right through the robots attacking him, then turned back around to assess his team, “Are you alright?”

“Never better, boss!” Storm had his own board as well, though why he wasn't using it until now was a mystery.

 _“How did you get out!?”_ Eggman began to panic over the loudspeaker, _“Sonic! Stop them!”_

Metal caught up, and Sonic played a hasty note to make him back off.

“Guys, let's get out of here!”

Sonic led the way out, occasionally slowing down to make sure nobody got left behind. “There's an open door this way!” Wave changed their direction, and Sonic kept them going until the door came into view.

The door began to close, quickly, and Sonic realized that while everyone else was on pace to leave, Storm wasn't going fast enough! He wouldn't make it! Sonic let his guitar shrink back into its medallion, then he jumped, boosting right into Storm's back and getting him out before the door closed.

Unfortunately, the action made Sonic fly backwards as well, and before he was running again, the door was blocking his way.

 _“Sonic!”_ Sonia's voice came from the other side as she tried breaking the door open, first with her music, then simply with whatever else she could. It didn't budge.

Sonic boosted into the door continuously, hitting it as hard as he could, but it was no use, “No...”

_What a turn of events._

Sonic brought his guitar back out, standing to face Metal and willing his hands to stop shaking.

“G-go on.” Sonic grimaced, “I'm not scared of you.”

He was about to start playing when something else hit Metal from behind. It reached Sonic's ears, and he froze. It was a note. A melody made with someone’s voice.

Sonic collected his bearings before facing his savior, “Mom!?”

Aleena flipped her instrument; A microphone set in a metal stand, “You should have told me you had hero stuff to do. That's my specialty!”

Another sound hit Metal, a cymbal crash, and he angrily turned to the other new intruder.

“Manik!?”

“Yo.” Manik tapped his drumsticks together as he sat at a complete drum set, “Figured you could use a hand, my dude.”

“Sonia! Play your keyboard!” Aleena brandished her microphone like a staff, “We can create our own shortcut. Sonic?”

“Got it.” Sonic strummed his guitar, “Let's go!”

The melody came easily to him. The others had begun to play a specific song that he'd played on his regular guitar years ago, and the familiar notes as his fingers flew across the frets was like second nature. He had no idea how his family had learned the exact same song for so long, but Aleena was even able to sing every word of the lyrics.

_“Open your heart, it's gonna be alright!”_

With everyone playing the same song so well, Metal couldn't even get close, and the floor shook with every note. Even when Metal tried to push through anyway, Aleena and Manik were able to strike him before he got any attacks in. Sonic was sure he could hear Eggman shouting angrily over the speakers, but the words were not quite discernible. Metal must have heard though, because he had murder in his eyes as he left.

Sonic hung on the last note as long as he could, and the silence afterward rang in his ears.

“Sonic!” Sonia pried the door open, which had greatly weakened after the song, “How do you know that song!?”

“Eh.” he shrugged, “I just do.”

“Ugh, I'm so proud of you!” Aleena's mic shrunk into a mic medallion, “Come here, children!”

The three siblings accepted her hug. Aleena picked all of them up off the ground, carrying them out and completely ignoring the shocked birds. She jumped all the way down to the ground, skydiving into the grass, then she let go.

“Oh! I missed this!” Aleena wiped a tear from her cheek, “I can't believe it! All of my children are heroes like me!”

Sonic had stars in his eyes, “Mom, you have to tell us about when you were a hero!”

“Of course! Oh, where do I start!? Come on, let's get back to the house! I'll tell you all about it!”

“So...” Sonia said, “Does that mean Manik forgives you?”

Manik cringed back like a deer in the headlights.

“Um, yeah I guess.” Manik scratched the back of his head, “I still think it was ridiculously stupid and irresponsible, but whatever. It's not like you wanted me to starve. And I'm grateful at least that you're sorry, and that I got to meet the Chaotix.”

“I will make it up to you, Manik.” Aleena brushed his cheek with her hand, “I promise.”

“Well, okay. Thanks, I guess.”

The four of them made their way back to Chuck's house, until the sound of hovering extreme gear caught Sonic's attention.

“Hey, Sonic?”

Sonic stopped to talk to his rival, “Hey, Jet.”

Jet crossed his arms as he balanced on his board, “Uh, I just wanted to thank you for saving my teammates. You didn't have to, but you did anyway. No wonder the media makes such a big deal out of you.”

Sonic tapped the toe of his shoe in the grass, “You're welcome.”

“I may be faster in the sky, but you're faster on the ground, and you have my respect for that.” his characteristic smirk returned, “But I will win our next race! You can be sure of that! See you later, Sonic the Hedgehog!”

His annoying laugh faded into the distance as he rode away. Except, Sonic was finding that the laugh wasn't really that irritating anymore. It was actually starting to sound endearing.

Well, he still had that mental note to punch Wave in her stupid face, but he supposed it could wait until he had a full night's sleep.

***


	28. Chapter 28

**June - Year 3**

While Jet was willing to sort of apologize, Wave and Storm were still somewhat harassing Tails and Knuckles for seemingly no reason. Sonic had at least been able to visit more Gaia temples with Silver, though they hadn't actually gotten any more emeralds to them.

Sonic was also afraid of what Metal was doing with the emeralds he had stolen, but Aleena revealed the next day that she had stolen them back when she and Manik paid their visit to the airship.

“Yikes.” Sonic wiped the sweat from his forehead, “You sure this is the right place?”

“I think so.” Blaze took her shoe off to tap it out when she stepped on a rock, “But I understand the concern, these temples are hard to find.”

It wasn't even necessarily that the temples were too off the grid, their specific locations were easy to figure out, but the actual journey to get to them was a bit of an ordeal. Sonic had just flown the two of them in the Tornado to the continent over, which was closer to the Mystic Ruins than Station Square, but this jungle was much thicker, hotter, and with roughly a thousand more mosquitos. Every time he was bitten, Sonic would berate himself for forgetting to bring bug spray.

Blaze was helpful though. Because she had a near perfect control over her powers, she could burn a tunnel through the underbrush without causing a wildfire, and the bugs didn't want to be near all the smoke and flames. Finally, they arrived at the temple. This one was much bigger than the last, but the journey to the pedestal was only a bit longer.

“Wow.” Blaze led the way in, using her fire to light the darkness, “Tails was right.”

“Tails is often right.” Sonic agreed, “I only hope we have the right emerald for this temple...”

“I think we do.” Blaze pushed the final door open, “There it is.”

This temple also had drawings all over the walls. Most of them were the same as in Annie's temple, but a few of them made less references to loyalty and mercy, and more references to being sound of mind. Something that amused Sonic in more of his research is that most of the ancients were opposites in harmony, like how Shoulders emphasized good physical health while Platinum emphasized good mental health. Sonar was the sky, and Gaia was the Earth. The only exception was Annie, who didn't have a hate to her love. Seeing as this temple was all about the mind, Sonic whipped out the white emerald to place on the pedestal. The light that resonated was silvery in the middle, but it was still green on its edges like Annie's.

“Thank you. I needed that.”

Platinum was a very tall white hedgehog with bright white irises. He was dressed just as regally as Annie had been, with shiny metallic boots, glowing teal accents across his body, and a gravity-defying cape. He gave the impression of being perceptive enough to see through any lie, and it made the two visitors a bit uneasy.

“No problem.” Sonic cleared his throat, “Um, we're trying to get the emeralds back to their temples. Can you help us once your power is back?”

“Of course.” Platinum's eyebrows seemed drawn in perpetual anger, but the rest of him reflected friendliness, “It is my duty to keep the peace among mortals with my brothers and sisters. I must regain my strength however, so please be patient with me.”

“We will.”

“How much time do we have left?” Blaze asked.

“Um...” Sonic counted the months on his fingers, “It's already been two and a half years? Yeesh, that means we've only got less than three years left.”

“Oh, that's plenty of time.” Platinum closed his eyes, “You have all done very well so far. Go with my blessing.”

“Thank you, Platinum.” Sonic gave a half-hearted wave before Platinum disappeared.

The plane ride home was shorter than the one there, as the Tornado came with a map, and Sonic knew how to get home once he recognized his surroundings.

“When do you plan on finding the next temple?” Blaze opened the door for Sonic.

“Not sure, but we're getting closer to-!” he stopped to listen. There was a familiar voice coming from the garage where Tails usually worked.

_“Did you really think I would be impressed by such trash?”_

Wave. Sonic lifted a hand to Blaze in a “just a second” gesture, placing his hand on the doorknob and carefully twisting it.

“HA!” Wave threw the yellow Miles Electric on the ground, “I don't even know why I bother. You couldn't build a useful device if it hit you in the face.”

Tails didn't say anything, his head and ears tilted down as silent tears dripped from his face to the concrete floor.

Sonic felt that fire in his chest, briskly walking towards Wave with a grimace on his face.

“Oh hey, Sonic. Can you believe-!”

Sonic threw his fist at her face, and she recoiled in pain.

“Sonic!” Tails pulled him back.

“OW!” Wave's hands went to her sore beak, “What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“He's just a child, are you crazy!?” Sonic stopped struggling so Tails would let him go, “The stuff that Tails builds is extraordinary! Why do you feel the need to destroy the morale of a freaking five-year-old!? Are you really so insecure that you feel threatened by someone so little trying to prove themselves to you!? _You're sick!”_

Wave was completely silent while Tails hid his face in embarrassment.

Sonic pointed at the open garage door, “Get out.”

“Um.” Wave straightened out, “Y-you can't just-!”

“Get out of my house.” Sonic seethed, “If I ever see you harassing my brother again, you'll get much worse than a sock to the jaw. I can promise you that. _Get. Out.”_

Wave continued to stay motionless until she scowled, trudging out onto the driveway and hopping on her board to fly away. Sonic waited until she was out of sight before he grabbed the garage door and yanked it shut. It slammed into the concrete, plunging the garage in total darkness aside from Tails’ bright work lamp.

“Sonic.” Tails rubbed his eyes, “I had that. You don't have to stick up for me all the time.”

“That's where you're wrong, kiddo.” Sonic eased Tails back into the house, “You've been trying so hard to impress Wave when you could literally create a stable interdimensional time machine that automatically solved any global crisis, and she would _still_ call it a piece of garbage. You can't hinge your entire well-being on someone determined to tear you down.”

“But she's so amazing! The things she can build are so pleasing to the eyes, yet super useful in every way!” Tails leaned against the counter in the kitchen, “I just want build something that impresses her! I know I can do it!”

“I would give up on that, Tails.” Blaze gently lifted his chin to her gaze, “Just be better today than you were yesterday. Comparing yourself to others is nothing short of self-destruction.”

“I know, but...”

“Tails, if you really want to impress her, don't let her insults get to you.” Sonic ruffled Tails’ bangs, “I guarantee, her reaction to you not taking her bull will be _priceless.”_

Tails pushed Sonic's hand away, scratching his cheek as he thought.

“Sonic?”

“Hm?”

Tails licked his lips, _“You_ like my inventions, right?”

“Yes.” Sonic leaned back on the counter next to his friend, “I think your gadgets are incredibly impressive, but my opinion shouldn't really matter to you either. You are amazing, and anyone who disagrees can shove it.”

Tails finally let a relieved smile cross his features, “Okay! I'll make the coolest and most useful stuff for myself! Not to impress others!”

“That's the spirit!” Sonic watched Tails disappear back into the garage, leaving the door open until he could turn on the ceiling lights.

“Is he your brother now?”

Sonic jumped. He'd nearly forgotten about Blaze.

“Did I say that?” Sonic laughed, mostly to himself, “I mean, _someone’s_ gotta take care of him, it might as well be me.”

Blaze kept her eyes on him as he left, closing the door on his way out.

***


	29. Chapter 29

**November - Year 3**

Amy rested her head on her knees as her arm dangled over the building, holding a single red rose. She'd been on her own mission to find Metal's motives and Eggman's secrets, but now that it was her 10th birthday, she was starting to feel a tad lonely. It was strange, because she had just been with the rest of her team, but she didn't realize what day it was until she'd already left the house. She saw the rose in a store window on her way to Empire City, so she bought it as a little gift for herself.

And Sonic...

Her phone began to ring, and she apathetically reached for it to answer, “Hello?”

_“Amy, where did you go?”_

She started, “Sonic?”

_“I can't find you anywhere. Did you leave for another mission again? If I didn't know any better, I’d think that you're avoiding me!”_

“Um, sorry. I'll get back as soon as possible.”

_“Awesome. Stay safe, okay?”_

Sonic hung up the phone, tossing it onto the kitchen table, “You think she forgot?”

“I doubt it.” Knuckles put a frozen hot pocket in the microwave, “Maybe she thinks _we_ forgot.”

“Well _you_ did.” Tails took a sip of his orange juice, “Though, I guess she didn’t really give an indication that she even remembered.”

Sonic took a hearty bite of his toast, “So, have you guys gotten to any more temples?”

Tails sighed, “Not really. I’ve tracked down the location of Ember’s temple, but I haven’t had the chance to visit yet.”

Sonic carefully lay every emerald they had so far on the kitchen table. The blue one, the yellow one, the red one, and the purple one. Two of them had made it to their temples, which meant that the black one was missing.

“Hm.” Sonic pushed his chair away from the table, “I’m gonna go talk to Shadow. Be right back.”

Shadow was usually out doing...who knows what ever since he got back to them on Christmas. He was becoming good friends with Rouge though, and along with Omega, they were turning out to be quite the formidable team. At the moment, Sonic found him lounging on a park bench near the field where they always parked the Tornado. It looked like he was asleep, but he had his brow creased in a way that communicated he was actually lost in thought.

Not wanting to startle him, Sonic spoke softly, “Shadow?”

“Hm? Oh, hey.” Shadow sat up, planting his feet on the ground, “How have you been?”

Sonic inhaled, “Good. Uh, I have a question for you though. What did you do with the black emerald?”

Shadow pursed his lips, “I actually left it on the Ark. Why?”

“Well, because we should take it to its temple.”

“No.” Shadow snapped curtly, “That emerald can’t be charged. Do you want Black Doom to get his power back?”

“Well, no, but we need all the emeralds to unlock their real power.”

“You can do plenty with just six.” was Shadow’s reply, “Taking down Black Doom was the biggest headache of my entire life. I’m not in the mood to do that again.”

Sonic sighed. Shadow was clearly not going to change his mind on this subject, but the reason they were replacing the emeralds in the first place was simply to help the ancients get their power back and to stop Eggman from abusing their power, but if the black emerald was disposed of anyway, it must not be that big a deal.

“In that case, do you want to help us return the other emeralds to their temples? We could really use the help.”

“I’m afraid not, Sonic.” Shadow leaned back on the bench, “I’m actually in the middle of something right now, but I wish you the best of luck.”

“Okay, well it was nice to see you again.”

By the time Sonic left, he was a bit scrambled. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to charge every emerald, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that they would need every single emerald to be working and together, but Shadow was right, they couldn’t risk awakening such a powerful demon on nothing more than a hunch.

Still. It wouldn’t stop bothering him.

“Hi, Sonic!”

Sonic looked up from his sulking, “Hey, Ames.”

“I was just on my way home.” Amy bounded up to him, a velvety red rose pinned to her headband, “Did you need me for something?”

“Yup. Just a second.” Sonic entered the house to run up to his room, grabbing a wrapped box before rejoining Amy outside, “Okay, let’s go.”

Amy noticed that Sonic was hiding something behind his back, but he wouldn’t let her see. It gave her the biggest smile until Sonic finally passed the town square and entered the supermarket’s parking lot.

“Ta da!” Sonic brandished the gift, and Amy squealed before giving him a huge hug.

 _“Thank you!”_ Amy swiped the box as she broke the hug, “Um, sorry, I was just afraid you forgot!”

“Nope.” Sonic took a second to breathe after he’d been near suffocated, “Did you really think I’d forget? You’re a whole decade old! That’s cause for celebration!”

“I know! Um...” Amy fidgeted with the box, “Can I open it now?”

“Go ahead, I want to see your reaction.”

Amy excitedly tore through the wrapping paper and pushed open the lid. Inside was a charm bracelet. It had a rose charm, a perfume bottle charm, a hammer charm, and a few other little charms that Sonic just thought looked cool. The one that really struck Amy in particular was the spiky charm of a regular hedgehog, hunched down to brandish its spikes like a weapon.

“D’you like it?” Sonic gave her a thumbs up, “Happy birthday, Amy!”

Amy stashed the box under her arm to unclasp the bracelet, then she tried unsuccessfully to clasp it again around her wrist.

“Here, let me help.” Sonic quickly clasped the bracelet, and Amy rotated her wrist to admire it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! Anyway, sorry we couldn’t throw you a party today, but I figured I’d bring you to the store anyway so you can pick out a cake and-!”

“Um, Sonic.”

“Hm?” Sonic stopped in his rambling to see that Amy had a deep red blush all the way to her ears, “Oh no! Did I do something wrong!? I’m sorry, I-!”

“No! No.” Amy tried to hide her blush behind her hands, dropping the gift box, “I, it’s just...I have something to tell you...”

Sonic tilted his head to one side, silently fearing that she had bad news, “Okay.”

Amy took a long, slow breath, drawing it out as long as possible before she suddenly blurted, “I think I’m in love with you.”

The distant sounds of driving cars in the distance came into sharper focus when the words hit Sonic’s eardrums and interpreted by his brain. In love? Did Amy want to be his girlfriend now? Did he feel the same way, or...? He suddenly got a deep sense of dread that settled in his stomach like a rock, and he wasn't even sure why.

“Uh, you don’t have to say anything.” Amy’s blush was so pronounced now it was nearly steaming, “I-I-I just felt weird when you didn’t know. It’s okay. We can keep being friends if you want.”

Sonic attempted to swallow the lump in his throat. Is that why she was so stuck to him at first before disappearing for days at a time? He was suddenly feeling like a terrible friend.

Amy looked away, burying her face in her hands, _“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve said anything.”_

“No, Amy.” Sonic took both of her hands, which were warm from her blush, “It’s okay. I mean, I’m happy you trusted me with this information, but I don’t feel the same way. At least, I don’t think I do. I’m sorry.”

Amy nodded sadly, “It’s okay. I was just scared for a minute that you would run away.”

Sonic shifted his feet, still holding Amy’s hands, “I know I run away a lot. I’m sorry I scared you.”

They sat in uncomfortable silence for awhile, until Sonic dropped Amy’s hands and clasped them behind his back.

“So...” Sonic nodded towards the store, “The cake?”

“Right. Let’s go.”

Sonic’s phone began to ring on the way across the parking lot, and Sonic answered it, grateful for the distraction, “Tails?”

_“Sonic! Metal is attacking again, and he got Knuckles!”_

Sonic jumped at the panic in Tails’ voice, “Where is he!?”

_“In the forest!”_

Sonic was about to take off when he remembered Amy, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll come with you.”

“Okay then, stick close and be careful!”

“LET ME GO YOU METAL POSER OR I SWEAR I’LL BASH YOUR FACE IN!”

Sonic and Amy arrived at the temple in the middle of the forest, following the sound of the angry echidna’s voice. A ton of the grass had been burnt away and some of the trees had been uprooted, prompting another surge of righteous fury in Sonic’s chest.

“Hey Sonic!” Knuckles did everything to try and break Metal’s hold on him with no luck, “Help me teach this guy a lesson!”

Sonic was about to jump in the air, but anything he did against Metal would hit Knuckles as well, so he hesitated.

“Allow me.” Amy brandished her hammer and swiftly swung it at Metal’s head. The shock made him drop Knuckles.

“Sonic, he’s been fighting against Annie’s barrier for ages!” Knuckles panted, his hands on his knees, “He only stopped to raid our house for emeralds!”

“Did he get any?” Sonic dodged Metal slashing at his arm.

“I wouldn’t let him have them.” Knuckles swung a fist at Metal when he made the mistake of turning to him, “Jeez, he does not give up!”

 _Just like me._ Sonic jumped out of Amy’s way as she headed for Metal again.

“Goddammit just die already!” Knuckles threw a few more punches, and Metal landed on the ground, holding his face in pain.

“Knuckles, stop!” Sonic gave a massive push to Knuckles chest, and he fell off his feet.

“Sonic, he’s _evil!”_ Knuckles stood up to confront his friend, “He’s given us nothing but grief for years! Let’s just get it over with now!”

Sonic cast his gaze back down to Metal, who was still struggling to get away after being struck so many times.

“No, Knuckles.” Sonic kept his friends away until Metal finally gathered his strength enough to run away, “Let him go.”

“Why? You just want to be nice, or something?”

Sonic fixed Knuckles with an icy stare. Under normal circumstances, of course he didn't want to be responsible for someone's death, however harmful they were, but somehow..

Somehow, that's not what was stopping him.

“I can't do it, Knuckles.” he said, "That's me."

The birds chirped around them in the absence of the battle, and a soft breeze rustled the leaves and grass around them.

“That was very noble of you, Sonic.”

The three of them turned to see Annie on the edge of the protective barrier she put around her temple. Her steps were still sure and graceful, even over the bumpy ground of the burnt grass.

“If you wish, I can deliver some of the emeralds to their temples for you. I now have enough power to travel, thanks to you.”

“Oh.” Sonic turned to Knuckles, “Do you have any emeralds with you?”

“Just the red and blue ones.” Knuckles pulled out said emeralds, handing them over to Annie.

Her warm smile came back before she disappeared in a shimmering light.

***


	30. Chapter 30

**February - Year 4**

“I’m glad you’ve finally found me.”

Talesh was a very tall and lean yellow-orange fox, with big pilot’s goggles and silvery mechanical shoes. Like the other ancients, he radiated a sense of regality, but he was decidedly softer and friendlier than Platinum had been.

Sonic Amy and Knuckles stepped away from the podium. Sonic was the first to speak, “It wasn't easy for sure. Um, Talesh, Amy says you and Sonar were close before he supposedly abandoned you. Do you think he would really do that?”

Talesh shifted his feet, continuing to seem highly regal despite acting somewhat awkward.

“I was called ‘Talesh’ because I was the one to pass stories or tales to the mortals. I always told that particular story with the assumption that Sonar abandoned us, because it seemed to be the likely explanation at the time...” Talesh sighed as he clasped his hands behind his back, “But in truth, I don't believe it. Not for one second. Sonar may have been acting strange on the night before the battle, but that doesn't mean he had poor intentions."

“Wait, wait a second.” Sonic held up his hand, “He was acting strange?”

Talesh stood up taller. If they were in Chuck's house, Sonic was sure his ears would have scraped the ceiling.

“It's been awhile since I've done this, so allow me tell you a story.” Talesh sat down cross-legged, and the other three sat in a circle around him to listen.

“We kicked Lyric out of our circle of ancients, because he was clearly so greedy that he couldn't be allowed control over any mortal land. Solaris, the spirit of destruction, met a similar fate, and the two were banding against us.”

Talesh told his story with silent passion, subtly emphasizing parts of his sentences to give them more gusto. No wonder he was the storyteller, he obviously enjoyed it.

“With Eclipse having disappeared, the rest of us were discussing how we could use the power we had left to fight the defected ancients. Normally, Sonar would be at the helm of this discussion, as he is a natural leader, but instead he was getting distracted easily. He would stare off into the distance, even as we were in despair of the mortal deaths that had already occurred. It was so unlike him that I asked if he was okay, and he snapped out of it long enough to reassure that he was simply tired.” Talesh paused in his story, placing a hand over the goggles on his forehead, “I never saw him again.”

The three kids were enthralled with the story. Talesh took a moment to collect himself before he continued.

“Of course, because he was acting so strange on the night before the big battle, several of us assumed that Sonar was agitated and wanted to run away, including me. I was angry and bitter that our leader would leave, so I told the story as if he had abandoned us.” Talesh laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands, “But now that I’ve had millenia to think it over, I regret it deeply. Sonar may have been agitated when we were making battle plans, but that doesn’t mean he would have jumped all the way to leaving us when we needed him. And besides, we haven’t seen him even once since that night. I doubt he would have been able to hide from us for so long.”

Sonic took a breath of air, “Do you think Eclipse killed him?”

A sad smile crossed Talesh’s face, “I’ve considered the idea. I thought Eclipse had left due to the pressure from mortals, but because we haven’t seen him since he disappeared, it’s a distinct possibility. But...Eclipse was our brother too. I don’t want to believe he was capable of something so ghastly as fratricide.”

Sonic remembered the void that was trying to control Shadow, “Um...I have bad news for you, then...”

Talesh snapped his eyes up, an amber glow creeping into his soft brown eyes, “Have you seen him? Have you seen Eclipse?”

“Sort of. He goes by Black Doom now, and...” Sonic had to look away from that eerie gaze, “...and...he tried to force our friend Shadow to kill me. You, you know, um...his blood-related descendant?”

“No. That’s impossible.” Talesh hugged himself, “What did he look like?”

“Um, Black Doom? He was like a soul-sucking void.”

“No, child, that can’t be right.” Talesh was shaking, the aura around him flaring with flashes of yellow, “Eclipse was such a calm and kind person, he wouldn’t turn on us, he wouldn’t! I refuse to believe it!”

Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles stood to slowly back away. It was interesting to see though that despite how godlike the ancients had seemed up to this point, Talesh’s face was becoming red and splotchy with his tears just like any ordinary mortal.

“I-I’m sorry.” Talesh gathered himself, standing up to his full height as he rubbed his eyes, “This wasn’t your fault, children. I ask that you leave while I think this through.”

And with that, Talesh disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the memory of his story and his emotional breakdown.

***

**March - Year 4**

Shadow parked the spaceship he’d flown in the docking bay of the Ark. Rouge had been dozing until the ship shut off and Shadow opened the glass ceiling.

“We’re here.” Shadow led the way out of the ship as Rouge and Omega followed close behind.

“You know, I can’t help but feel like you’re backpedaling a bit.” Rouge said.

Shadow entered the hallways of the station, making a beeline for his hiding place in the ship he knew like the back of his hand, “I know, I was always saying that nobody could find him here, but I can’t help but worry that he’s going to find a way out on his own. I don’t know what’s giving me that impression, but I just had to make sure.”

Shadow opened the hidden compartment in his old bedroom, and his heart dropped. The black chaos emerald was glowing.

“Oh.” Rouge watched Shadow lift it carefully, “Is that a bad thing?”

“Hold this.” Shadow shoved the emerald into Rouge’s hands as he dashed to the other side of the ship, where Maria would spend all night when she was feeling particularly sick, hooked up to an IV drip of her specialized medicine. He opened the cabinet under the sink, where Black Doom’s crystal was pulsating with cold power.

“I was right.” Shadow reached out to grab the crystal, but recoiled when it was cold enough to burn him.

 _“Imminent threat detected.”_ Omega’s arms clicked, _“Preparing to fire all weapons.”_

“Omega! NO!”

Shadow tried to stop him, but a runaway missile hit the ground and made all three of them fly backwards. The force had broken the crystal, and Black Doom himself emerged from its remains. The crystal reformed after he’d been freed, disappearing in a clash of dark power.

 **“Well, now.”** Black Doom took the form of a horned demon, his clawed hands reaching out, **“How wonderful to see you again, Shadow.”**

Shadow held his head tightly between his hands, trying to force the dark voice out of his thoughts, but all it did was worsen his growing headache.

“What are you doing to him!?” Rouge demanded, but all it did was make Black Doom laugh in amusement.

 **“Shadow wouldn’t exist without me.”** Black Doom said, **“From my perspective, I’m being perfectly fair.”**

“Rouge, Omega, you have to get out of here.” Shadow used every ounce of his willpower to resist Black Doom’s influence over him, “You have to warn Sonic and his friends that Black Doom is back.”

“What? But Shadow-!”

 _“GO!”_ Shadow collapsed, crying out in pain.

Rouge and Omega hurried out of the building, flying back to Earth while Shadow grit his teeth hard enough to crack stone.

**“I’ve missed this. Haven’t you, old friend?”**

***

Sonic folded his hands on the kitchen table while Rouge recounted the story. Against the odds, Black Doom was back.

When she was finished, Sonic looked up at her, “The black emerald was glowing?”

“Yeah. It was weird, because I’ve never seen something so black glow so brightly.”

He already suspected why this was happening; All the emeralds were connected to each other, mimicking the closeness of the remaining ancients, and when half of them were being charged in their Gaia temples, it was returning minimal life to the remaining ones as well.

 _“I recognize my error.”_ Omega had slight regret in his monotone voice, _“However minor it was, as destruction is the answer approximately one hundred percent of the time.”_

Sonic shrugged. That was the closest to an apology they would get from the robot, “Do you still have it?”

Rouge hesitated, but she carefully pulled it out and set it on the table. It had stopped glowing. Sonic took it in his hands solemnly. If they were going to recharge six of the emeralds, they might as well go in with all seven.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Sonic tossed the emerald in the air before catching it again, “I’d better go. I’ll see you guys later.”

He had paid a few visits back to Annie’s temple a few times since Metal’s attack. The grass was growing back, and the trees that had fallen were rotting and making a home for tiny creatures like caterpillars and worms.

“Bold of you to come back now.”

Sonic cringed. Annie was glaring down at him, and he couldn’t help but feel like a little kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Are...” Sonic reached back for any reason she could be cross with him, “Are you made about what I said to Talesh?”

“You made my older brother cry.” Annie crossed her arms as she continued to stare, “Is it true, child? Did you tell him that Eclipse was evil?”

“Because he is!” Sonic held the black emerald in front of his chest like a shield, “I didn’t want to lie to him. How was I supposed to know he would react so badly to it?”

Annie extended her hand, beckoning for the emerald. Sonic numbly placed it in her palm, and she held it close to her body with her eyes shut.

 _“Oh my...”_ Annie’s eyes fluttered open in surprise, “Child, you were right. Eclipse has nothing but darkness in his heart.”

Sonic exhaled, not happy of course, but at least satisfied that Annie didn’t consider him a liar, “I need you to get that to Eclipse’s temple, though. I would like to have all seven charged.”

Annie seemed reluctant, but she didn’t reply as she disappeared.

Pink, blue, red, white, yellow, and now black.

Only one temple left.

***


	31. Chapter 31

**June - Year 4**

Sonic visited the final temple by himself. He was a bit out of sorts ever since Amy confessed to him, even though she was acting just like she always had. It was just the knowledge of something that perhaps should have been obvious to him, and he couldn’t help the blush that rose on his face whenever Amy would cling to his arm.

Not only that, but every time Metal tried to attack them since, he appeared to have learned how their previous attacks worked, forcing them to work even harder to surprise the robotic doppelganger. Metal was beginning to show himself as a truly formidable enemy, and Sonic even had several nightmares over the past few months of Metal getting to all his friends before tearing him apart, piece by piece.

Although, ever since Sonic spared him, he seemed to throw the fights, even when he had the upper hand.

Sonic shook the thought from his head as the purple emerald met its pedestal, the green-tinged purple light filling the room with warmth.

“I heard what you did for my family.”

Ember. The last of the Seven Chaos Wielders. She was actually a much darker shade of purple than Blaze, and her flaming robes were reminiscent of a samurai warrior. Her irises were black like coal, and the gem on her forehead shone behind a mop of black hair.

“You and your friends have our thanks. Remember to call on us when you need our help.”

That’s all she said before she was gone.

All seven emeralds were back in their rightful places. Now all they had to do was wait.

***

“Yeesh. You look like you died three weeks ago.” Tails got a leftover supermarket quiche from the fridge, placing a slice of it on a plate.

“Gee. Thanks.” Sonic took a few more gulps of his coffee, slouching in the bar stool at the counter.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult.” Tails closed the microwave and hit the 30 second button, “Are you still stressing about what to do next?”

“Well, yeah, I mean...” Sonic set his mug down, “I guess I never really thought about it, but how are we supposed to stop Eggman’s Cannon? We never really got around to that because everything else that happened was so distracting.”

“Well, we’ve still got more than a year left.” Tails leaned back against the kitchen sink while he waited for his food to cook, “I’m sure we can figure it out by then.”

A sudden _BOOM!_ shook the ground, and all the lights cut out.

“Aw. My quiche.”

Sonic dashed for the door, tearing it open to look outside.

Water.

Huge stretches of water, flowing through the streets and knocking things over. It threatened to flood the entire city, and seeing it made Sonic freeze in place, even when he commanded his limbs to move.

“Sonic, what’s-!” Tails froze as well.

Sonic moved to sign very stiffly, _Tails. Water._

“I know, hey, step away from the door,”

_"No! Tails, I’m going to drown! I have to run!”_

“Sonic _NO!”_

Sonic peeled down the street, desperately trying to get away from the flooded city. Ice-cold terror tore through his blood. No logic made it to his brain in his delirious panic-stricken state. He only had one thought; _Get away as fast as possible._

 _“Sonic!”_ Shadow grabbed his arm, pulling the boy into another of Eggman’s stolen spaceships, “What are you doing out here!?”

Sonic could barely breathe as he ran, and being jerked into a moving vehicle nearly made his heart stop.

“Sonic.” Shadow shook his shoulders, “Sonic, snap out of it.”

Sonic signed, _Why is this happening?_

Shadow ran a hand over his forehead, “Rouge, has the flood reached Annie yet?”

“No, but it’s getting close.”

“Dammit.” Shadow jumped to the back of the ship to look out over the landscape, “How did he get all the emeralds so quickly!? They were spread across the entire planet!”

“Sonic!” Tails flew into the ship, completely out of breath, “Don’t run like that! You scared me!”

_Tails, I’m going to die._

Tails grabbed Sonic’s hands mid-sign, “No you aren’t! We’ll get through this, you’ll be fine.”

Sonic shook his head, taking his hands back, _No! Tails! You don’t understand! I’m going to die!_

He couldn’t explain it. He had no idea why he felt like this, but he was a hundred percent sure that he was on borrowed time. It was that feeling of the water burning his nose and lungs, floating in a void of nothing and seeing blue on all sides of him. There was no doubt in his mind, he was going to die.

“Tails, stay with him.” Shadow jumped out of the ship, a gun in his hand. When he landed, he skated along the surface of the water aiming at something in the middle of the cyclone.

Sonic peered out the side window. Omega was on the ground too, attacking something pink inside the swirl of water while Shadow rode the wave like he was surfing. He looked closer and realized the pink mass was actually a brain.

Wait.

The water began to stand up, a long monster’s face forming. It opened its mouth and roared, showing off rows of sharp, watery teeth.

It was Chaos.

How could he have missed it? All the ancients aside from Annie had an opposite. Sonar’s sky to Gaia’s earth, Talesh’s light to Eclipse’s dark, Shoulders’ body to Platinum’s mind. Ember was fire, so what was the spirit of Chaos?

Water.

Sonic glanced to the side, where Annie was praying on the top of a skyscraper. He couldn’t hear what she was mumbling under her breath, but all of the emeralds began to hover around her, and all of them were greyed out.

Shadow landed on the building she was just floating above, “Annie! What are you doing!?”

“Shadow!” Annie gasped, “The emeralds are drained! I can’t use them against Chaos!”

“What happened to him!? Why-!?”

Chaos let out another ferocious roar, cutting Shadow off.

“Child, get out of here! It’s not safe!”

Shadow shot at a watery tentacle that came out of the flood, and it recoiled before disappearing, “No! This is my city, and I’m damn well going to protect it!”

“Then take these!” Annie moved the circle of emeralds towards Shadow, “I can’t use them, but you could!”

“No I can’t!” Shadow’s eyes shone with a fierce red light, “You don’t understand! Black Doom is trying to control me! It has to be someone else!”

Sonic saw Annie and Shadow shout at each other until Shadow gathered the emeralds and flew back up to the ship to give the drained emeralds to Sonic, “I can’t use these, but I’m sure that you can.”

Sonic shook his head.

“Sonic, it’s okay.” Shadow let the gems fall to the ground, “You don’t have to, but you’re already in tune with Chaos. You could use these the best out of anyone else.”

Sonic continued to shake in petrifying fear. There was a tiny spark in his chest of that need to be a hero, but he could hardly feel it over the ice in his fingertips.

“Agh!” Shadow shot at another round of water tentacles, but he ran out of bullets, and the ones he’d missed wrapped around the ship.

“Oh no!” Rouge yanked on the steering wheel, but it was no use. The ship was going down, and Sonic was once again losing the ability to breathe.

_“Look out!”_

A huge force field surrounded the ship, and it was yanked out of the grip of the beast. Something made Chaos rear back in pain until he drained out of the city, falling into the ocean but also sewer grates as he broke apart and slight color returned to the emeralds.

“Yeah!”

It was Silver! A ton of other heroes landed beside them, and everyone was here! Mighty, Manik, Sonia, Aleena, even Vector!

“We figured you could use a little help.” Blaze helped Sonic to his feet.

“Guys!” Sonic began to laugh, “Oh, you guys!”

“Sonic!” Aleena swept him up in her arms, “Sonic, I’m so happy you’re alright!”

“M-mom...” Sonic returned her hug.

“Yes yes, how nice.”

All heads turned to the new voice; A very disgruntled Eggman who was angrily tapping his fingers on the dashboard of his Eggmobile.

“Eggman!?” Sonic jumped to the ground, but the old man just gave a tired sigh.

“Don’t bother. I’m not here to fight you. I’m actually here because my ally turned against me and I have nowhere else to go.”

Metal was also nearby, and he was also angrily just hanging out, hovering in the air like he was sitting back in an invisible floating chair.

Sonic furrowed his brow, “What?”

 _“He is lying.”_ Omega’s eyes gleamed when he readied his weapons, _“Doctor Eggman cannot be trusted.”_

“Can you stop trying to destroy things for one second!?” Eggman snapped.

 _You know you’re the one who built him, right?_ Metal rolled his eyes.

_“He abandoned me. He deserves to die.”_

“Guys! Stop!” Sonic stepped between the two, though he was quite short considering Omega’s sheer height and Eggman floating in the air, “Eggman, who betrayed you? What are you talking about?”

Eggman sighed, “Whatever. Since you idiots keep destroying my robots, I figured you could help anyway. That scaly reptile will _pay_ for this!”

“Scaly...” Sonic turned to Amy, who had paled at the declaration.

“What? You know what I’m talking about, Sonic. I’m talking about Lyric.”

Lyric, the ancient who was kicked out of the group of ancients because of his greed.

“Here, I’ll tell you the whole story.” Eggman said, “Er, and I’m going to need a place to stay...”

***


	32. Chapter 32

**July - Year 4**

Sonic yawned, reaching for his favorite mug in the kitchen cabinet. He’d already turned the coffee machine on, and the smell was wafting through the house. Eggman had explained that Lyric was secretly helping Eggman behind the scenes, sharing the secrets of ancient technology with him while Eggman invaded places like Christmas Island in his crusade to take over the world.

Sonic looked into his mug, and found a few conspicuous moustache hairs inside.

“AAAGH!” Sonic threw the mug in the air, but luckily caught it before it fell on the ground, _”EEEEEGGMAAAAAAAAN!”_

“Sonic, can you shut up.” Knuckles flicked through tv channels absently.

“Eggman used my favorite mug!” Sonic stood at the edge of the living room with his arms crossed, “Wouldn’t you care if Eggman’s face had been all over your things!?”

“Perhaps, but it’s none of my business.”

“What do you want, Sonic the Hedgehog?”

It was still weird seeing Eggman in big pink pajamas with a sleepy-looking Metal by his side. Metal’s charger was annoyingly bulky, so they had to clear an entire room for it while they politely and awkwardly ignored all the times Metal had tried to kill them.

“Eggman, did you use my favorite mug!?” Sonic held up the mug in question, a blue mug with red star rings around the rim.

“How did you find out about that! I even washed it for you!”

“Then why are there still moustache hairs inside? You clearly didn’t wash it very well!”

Eggman didn’t reply at first.

_Busted._

“Shut up, Metal Sonic!” Eggman pushed the robot so he sleepily tipped until he was lying on his face on the floor.

“Get your own mug.” Sonic scowled, “Seriously, I don’t want to use things if you can’t even be bothered to wash them!”

Sonic placed the mug in the sink when the coffee machine was done brewing. He settled for a plain white mug before he filled it with coffee and joined Knuckles on the couch.

_Hey, Sonic._

Sonic looked over the rim of his mug at Metal, who sat down on the floor with his back against the seat of the couch. Metal was always drowsy fresh off his charger, but it didn’t get any less jarring seeing such a capable death machine weak enough to be gently tipped over.

“Hey, Metal.” the greeting was so friendly on Sonic’s mouth, it was a little uncanny.

_Um, there’s something I have to tell you._

Sonic took the remote from Knuckles to turn the tv off, “What’s up?"

Metal crossed his arms, still angry despite his drowsiness, _Have you ever wondered why Eggman just seems to know everything about you?_

Sonic’s eyes widened. He hadn’t really noticed a bunch of the little things until it was brought back to the front of his mind. A few weeks ago, Eggman made a comment about Sonic’s love for chili dogs, even though he’d never seen Sonic eat one before.

“Yes, of course I have.” after all these years, was he finally getting an answer?

 _Well, it’s actually because we’re in a parallel timeline to the one Father is originally from._ Metal tapped his sharp fingers against his knee, _Father was so upset about always losing to you that he used the Chaos emeralds to go back in time to before you’d even been born, and without you, he was easily able to bring the world under his control. However, against all conceivable logic, he became lonely without you stopping his plans, so he built a version of you that was on his side, and treated it as his own son._ Metal glanced up at the stunned hedgehog, _Me._

It was a long time ago, but hadn’t Metal mentioned something about that? He wasn’t kidding then, he really was built before Sonic was ever even born.

_Since we are trying to form an alliance for now, I figured you should know._

“Uh...” Sonic watched the TV as Knuckles turned it back on, “Thank you?”

_Don’t bother. This doesn’t mean we’re friends. I’m still going to kill you when this is all over._

“There you are, Metal.” Sonic rolled his eyes, “For a second, you actually seemed pleasant.”

Metal didn’t comment.

A familiar earthquake shook the house and cut the lights out.

“What?” Knuckles hit the remote of the black TV before he realized that his friend had stiffened beside him.

 _Knuckles._ Sonic’s hands shook as he tried to sign.

“Oh no!” Knuckles grabbed Sonic before he left the house.

There was no flood this time, but the city was quickly filling up with robots. They weren’t Eggman robots though, they were in a style that Sonic had never seen before. Knuckles slowly let go of him when it was clear he had stopped panicking, and the two of them took a moment to figure out what was going on.

“Well, now...” a low threatening voice that lingered on the S sounds, “It seems I was too late. Chaos must have gotten here first.”

It was a snake, with cyborg parts that gave him arms and the ability to fly. He gave off the same regality as all the other ancients, but he was clearly more dangerous, giving off an air of quiet scheming.

It was Lyric.

Lyric’s narrowed reptilian eyes landed on Sonic, “You.”

Sonic backed away, and Knuckles placed a protective arm in front of him.

“You and I...” Lyric slithered through the air towards them, “Have unfinished business...”

“Um.” Sonic darted his gaze around the yard, where Eggman and Metal were standing beside Tails, Amy, Silver and Blaze, “I’m, uh, sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t make me laugh, _Sonar.”_ Lyric hissed under his breath, “You must have known I would come back for you one day, after what you did to me.”

Sonic searched the snake’s gaze for any sign of trickery or slander, but Lyric held nothing but pure hatred in his glare. Sonic looked behind him, but Lyric was indeed staring right at him.

“Don’t insult my intelligence.” Lyric tapped a button on his chest piece, making his robots surround them, “Did you really think I would fall for something so basic? Maybe all the years have gotten to your memory, _old man.”_

 _F-Father..._ Metal held his head tightly.

“Sonic!” Eggman dropped to his knees to wrap his arms around his robotic son, “Are you okay!? What are you doing to him, you snake!?”

“All robots will bow to my command.” Lyric said calmly, “This will never change.”

Metal went limp for a moment before he stood up straight to fly in the air and join Lyric’s side.

“Nooo!” Eggman reached out as Metal flew away, _“Sonic!”_

Sonic never had any positive feelings towards Eggman or his robotic doppelganger, but he couldn’t help but feel bad when Eggman dramatically cried over the loss of his “son”. It was the push that finally let Sonic jump in the air and begin to destroy the robots. Although, he’d only gotten through two or three of them when one of them caught his ankle and let him dangle upside down in the air.

“Oh, please.” Lyric slithered right up to him so he could ominously hover around the young hero, “You honestly believe I would fall for such an old trick?”

Lyric's body flew off to the side, and a streak of red revealed that Knuckles had just punched his lights out. Sonic fell on his back when he turned his attention to the other robots, and he quickly recovered to help. The other four on the sidelines joined in too. Tails had created sticky bombs to take out a bunch of them at once while Silver used his powers to throw the enemies into other enemies, and obviously fire and a giant hammer were quite useful as well.

“What?” Lyric’s voice was much gruffer when he spoke up, like he was sick with a sore throat, “How did you do that?”

Sonic landed, brushing dirt off his arm, “Do what? Have more friends than you? It’s pretty easy, actually, it involves not using magic or science to lower people's opinion of you.”

Lyric scowled, “Don’t think this is over. I will have my revenge on you, and it will be sweet.”

And with that, Lyric had already flown away, and the city was once again blanketed in uncanny silence.

***


	33. Chapter 33

**October - Year 4**

“Come on, you old coot! It’s your cannon, how do we stop it!?”

Knuckles was interrogating Eggman over the kitchen table, all the lights off aside from the one right above them. Eggman was clearly irritated over Knuckles’ anger, but he nonetheless gave an answer.

“It won’t work without the cores.” Eggman explained slowly, “The cannon itself is completely finished and fully repaired, however the parts I ordered outside the solar system are simply the cores needed to power and hold the barrel together. I know I could have just used the emeralds for that, but I tried that in the dead timeline and all it really did was downplay the power of the cannon thanks to a singing effect on the wiring inside, you know it’s not really that important.”

Sonic didn’t question the logic, “So that’s what’s coming?”

“Yes.” Eggman sighed sadly, _“Oh, Sonic...”_

“Hey, we’ll get your precious metal son back.”

Knuckles shook his head, sitting back in his chair at the table, “I still can’t believe you missed Sonic so much that you built a fake.”

“Hey! I’m only human, and Mombot lives in another country!” Eggman hit the table with his fist, “Talking to Orbot and Cubot all day gets so tiring when you consider that they’re simply my minions.”

 _Maybe this is why Omega hates you._ Sonic thought with amusement. It seemed that Eggman’s feelings toward his robots depended entirely on their purpose for being built. A little odd, considering all of them were technically his children in spirit, but he didn’t say any of that out loud.

Knuckles set his head in his hands as he rested his elbows on the table, “I assume Orbot and Cubot are under Lyric’s control too?”

“Don’t remind me.” Eggman folded his arms on the table, “I don’t like them very much, but they’re very loyal minions, and they don’t deserve to be stuck under the control of that lizard.”

“So if we destroy the cannon again, will that stop Lyric?”

“Temporarily.” Eggman’s foot tapped under the table, “But he could easily fix it up again. What we really need to do is destroy the cores, then we can worry about getting rid of Lyric for good so he can’t abuse any more power.”

Sonic hit his palms on the table, “And after that, we go right back to being enemies.”

“Agreed.” Eggman stood up, easily twice as tall as Sonic, “Make no mistake, hedgehog! I still hate you, and I will still find a way to destroy you and conquer the world!”

“Whatever. I’ll stop you and you know it, Eggface!”

“I’ll make you eat those words, pincushion!”

“Guys, please.” Knuckles left his chair to get a snack from the pantry, “Let’s save the insults.”

“Come on, Knux. You know you want to give this old man a piece of your mind.”

“Of course I do, but after everything that's happened, I kind of just want to sleep.”

Something in his tone was off. Sonic grabbed his arm before he could leave, “Knuckles, are you okay?”

Knuckles stared at him with wide eyes before he yanked his arm away, “I’m fine, just...”

He stood there for a time, kicking a random piece of trash across the floor and watching where it landed.

“Knuckles?”

“Nevermind. Just watch the city, because we might have to leave soon.” Knuckles closed the door on his way out.

Sonic didn’t think about it too much, though, “Eggman, how do we intercept the shipment of the cores?”

***

**February - Year 5**

Sonic fiddled with the sports tape wrapped around his arm. Shadow had suggested it after a mission concluded with Sonic pulling another muscle in his calf, which interrupted his ability to run. Plus, with a guard over his arms and legs, he was less likely to get burned due to friction.

Anyway, Sonic approached the Master Emerald with Tails and Amy, where both Knuckles and Mighty were asleep atop the enormous gem. Somehow though, this time the Emerald was glowing in a peculiar way, and it was giving Sonic a subtle uneasy feeling instead of its usual feeling of security.

“And then he completely stubbed his toe on the way out! Poor guy thought he'd been attacked!”

“Oh my god!” Amy listened to Tails’ story as they walked, “Did you laugh?”

“No, I was too scared, but looking back,” Tails shook with laughter, “It's pretty funny.”

“Heheheh!” Amy's eyes fell on Sonic, who had stopped in his tracks, “Sonic?”

Sonic was gazing deep into the Emerald. Reaching out very slowly, he stared at the ghost of something inside, a thin shadow of events long past. Sonic's fingertips reached the gem...

_“Father! This is madness! You can't use the Emerald to kill your rivals!”_

_Sonic suddenly found himself in a war-torn Sky Sanctuary, with less trees and underbrush, but far more signs of tribal life, including tents full of weapons and food. All of them had been abandoned as a huge group of echidnas faced off against a single orange one. Her arms were protectively blocking the Master Emerald, with minimal success._

_“Tikal...” the oldest of the group shook his head, “You just don't understand. We are close to conquering all of Shoulders’ land! Trust me, you'll understand when you're older.”_

_“Are you serious!?” Tikal, despite her fear, spat back in anger, “You have been using that excuse since I was eleven! Father, please! All this invading, all this killing! This isn't the answer!”_

_Sonic wanted to interject, to stand up for the girl who stood by herself, but he knew deep down that this was just a memory of something that happened a thousand years ago._

_“My dear.” the leader tsked like his daughter was a mere disobedient child, “They are not like us. They are heathens. Barbarians.”_

_“No, you are!” Tikal tried in vain to stop the advancement of the army, “They're just like us! Just because you're strong doesn't mean your life has more worth-!”_

_“Tikal, step aside. I don't want to hurt you.”_

_“NO!” Tikal's face was covered in thick tears, “If you want your precious power so badly, you'll have to kill me for it!”_

_The leader narrowed his eyes at her, then he looked away._

_“Very well...” he lifted a decorative septer over his head, “I never wanted a daughter anyway...”_

_Sonic jumped between Tikal and her father, but he passed through the hedgehog like he wasn't even there._

_Because he wasn't._

_Tikal's screams echoed in Sonic's ears. A slash tore through her chest from the wave of her father's curved blade, and she fell to the ground, dead._

_Sonic backed away from the gruesome scene and fell on his knees as the old man lifted his arms to the Emerald, his daughter's corpse forgotten at his feet._

_“Finally! The source of the ancient ones’ power!” his smile was crazed, “Come to me, spirit of Chaos!”_

_The Emerald's glow cut through all the trees, creating a mist of wonder over the grass and dirt. Its glow was majestic and promising, until the light turned harsh._

_“Wh-what?”_

_The army was vaporized right on the spot, their burning bodies gasping in horror and betrayal. Inside the gem was the silhouette of a tall monster with huge alien eyes, made entirely of water._

_Chaos._

_His soul reeked of pain and grief. His only mortal friend, killed by her own father. Sonic was lost in all the light, but the thirst for revenge was unmistakable. It filled his entire being, chilling his fingers and toes, drying his throat so he couldn't scream, that fire in his chest that longed for the spilled blood of the shaman who was hungry for power he couldn't control-!_

“Sonic!”

Sonic jerked his arm away from the Emerald, falling on his back and hitting his head on the stone pedestal the Emerald sat on. He stared up at the cloudless noonday sky, the image stuck on his retinas of the tribal leader getting scorched slow enough that he could feel the whole thing from start to finish.

“Sonic?” Knuckles was standing over him, blocking his view of the sun, “What happened there?”

“You were just holding onto the Emerald,” Mighty knelt by his side, “And you had, like, this angry fire in your eyes!”

Sonic shakily forced himself to sit up, catching the gleam of Chaos’ eyes inside the gem. It was hard to tell from his static expression alone, but Sonic just knew that this fire that had been raging inside him at the death of Tikal was what Chaos had been dealing with for the past 1,000 years. From what he could tell, Chaos had been asked to not hurt Tikal's father per her request, and all of that regret over not stepping in sooner was fueling his desire for revenge.

Sonic found his lips moving before he even realized he was talking aloud, “But, he's dead...isn't he...?” he reached out again before retracting his arm, “Why are you still out for revenge...?”

“Huh?” Knuckles snapped his fingers in Sonic's face, “Hey! Earth to Sonic! You in there? Anywhere?”

“Knuckles.”

Sonic's sudden stare was off putting enough that Knuckles stumbled back.

Sonic cleared his throat, trying to ignore the sensation of the fire drying it, “Who's Tikal?”

Knuckles’ face lost some of its color, “Where did you hear that.”

Sonic looked into the Emerald again, but Chaos had disappeared.

“I was in a memory.” Sonic knelt backwards on his heels, “Everyone was ganging up on this one girl, and they...” he gasped, suddenly out of breath. He continued in sign language, _They killed her. In cold blood. She wanted to protect the Emerald, but they killed her and tried to take it by force._

Knuckles threw his hands in the air, pacing away from the group in exasperation.

“Hey, man.” Mighty stood to grip his friend's wrist.

“Yeah, I know.” Knuckles huffed through his teeth, “Sonic, Tikal is a classic story among the Knuckles Clan. We-ughh... _They_ were once the biggest tribe on the whole continent, but after the shaman Pachacamac killed his only daughter Tikal, all but a few of them were destroyed by Chaos for their greed and their crime.”

Knuckles lay down by the edge of the pedestal, his head resting on the panel that lined the stairs.

“Ever since that fateful day, the spirit of Chaos was sealed inside the Master Emerald in order to stop him from hurting innocents. I wonder if charging the regular emeralds freed him?”

Sonic had considered that as playing a big part in Chaos’ attack, but he set the thought aside for now, “But Pachacamac is already dead. Why does Chaos still feel such a need for revenge?”

“I'd imagine because it wasn't enough.” Knuckles rapped his knuckles on the stone path, “Think about it, if someone caused you so much pain that it made you lash out at them, even if their death is slow and painful, it wouldn't be satisfactory, because you still have that pain and you don't know how to get rid of it.”

“So you keep lashing out in the hopes that it'll make that pain stop.” Mighty finished, “Even if it doesn't work.”

“Bingo.” Knuckles closed his eyes against the harsh sunlight, “So the ancients sealed him away to stop him from hurting himself and others. Um, in case you guys wouldn't mind my opinion though, I've always felt that that was a little unfair. It probably would have been far better in the long run for them to help Chaos through his pain rather than trap him inside his own vessel, but seeing as they were preparing for an uprising against Lyric? I guess I can't blame them too much.”

“Whoa.” Sonic said, “You really know your ancient history, dude.”

Knuckles’ smile was amused, “I'm just glad it's being put to good use. Anyway, you guys have a particular reason for being here?”

***


	34. Chapter 34

**February - Year 5**

“I wanted to see if you could help me stop Chaos.” Sonic explained, “Um, I assume I was right?”

“Whatever. Follow me.” Knuckles stood up and stretched his arms in the air before he left for the ruins. Sonic shook the blush from his face as he followed, the two of them arriving at the pyramid in record time.

 _“‘The servers are the 7 Chaos; Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the chaos.’_ This is something that has been said in the tribe since the beginning of all recorded history.”

Sonic waited until Knuckles was done talking, “So...what does it mean?”

“It means that the Emeralds weren't really meant to work together seamlessly. They indeed have great power, but unless you understand how it works properly, you'll never be able to use it.” Knuckles was careful as he dusted the stone markings inside the big pyramid, “Even if Chaos himself wasn't there to stop Pachacamac, he wouldn't have been able to use the Emeralds’ power because he didn't understand it.” Knuckles tapped his cheek as he turned towards his friend, “You do, Sonic. If you can figure out how to harness the power of all seven emeralds, you'll be unstoppable against Chaos.”

Sonic's stomach turned, “But he's water.”

Knuckles’ brow furrowed, “What do you mean he's water? Yeah he's water, his...” realization struck him in the same moment.

_“You're afraid of water.”_

Sonic waited for Knuckles to elaborate, but he simply stood there, his mind running faster than he could properly articulate.

“Sonic, come here.”

Knuckles led him out of the pyramid to the small building that he had previously said was his home when he was younger. Sonic was actually allowed into the building this time, and it was rather nice inside considering how long it had been vacant. Scattered around the floor and rickety furniture were several ripped letters, and every so often there was an intact word. _“Your son”, “concerned”, “disappointing”,_ and _“needy”_ were among some of them, and Sonic realized with a heavy heart that all of them were in reference to Knuckles. His friend returned from the back room, and Sonic pretended like he didn't see them.

“Yeah, that's what I was afraid of...” Knuckles ran an arm through his dreadlocks, “Those who fight Chaos with his own power are destined to die from it. You're so in tune with Chaos that, well...”

“Wait...” Sonic processed what his friend had said, “I'm destined to _drown_ in Chaos!?”

“It makes sense when you think about it.” Knuckles gripped Sonic's shoulders as if to ground him, “Chaos can be unified in its power, but there's a reason we call it Chaos. At the end of the day, it's unpredictable. If you surround yourself with it, something could easily go wrong, and with your natural connection to it? Maybe it's something you subconsciously know.”

Sonic held onto Knuckles’ arms while he thought about it. He recalled that he was amazing on the ground and pretty good in the air, but even though he'd never had a traumatic experience with water, it was one of his greatest weaknesses. The last time he'd been submerged was when his friends had to _beg_ him to start breathing again.

“Is that why...?” Sonic stepped away from Knuckles slowly, “If...if I go up against Chaos, am I going to die?”

“You might.” Knuckles kept his arms out to catch Sonic in case he fainted, “But like I said, you understand Chaos far better than Pachacamac did, so one use is probably not enough. I’d still be careful, but I think you’d be fine.”

Sonic took another step back and heard the crinkling of paper; The torn letters.

“You don’t have to.” Knuckles said gently, “We can find another way.”

Sonic saw nothing but sincerity in those violet irises. A choice. That’s right, he had a choice. He gathered himself. Chuck once told him that heroes weren’t invincible; They were prone to fear and injury just like ordinary people. Heroes couldn’t do everything, and expecting them to rise above their own physical limits was not only unrealistic but potentially dangerous. Especially since Sonic was so young, Chuck made absolute certain that this was what Sonic wanted. The best heroes were the ones who wanted to be heroes, after all.

Sonic remembered the water, and his bravery wavered, but he looked into his hands as he slowly pulled them into fists.

“I’ll do it.”

“Really?” Knuckles was relieved, but also tense, “You sure? Even after what I said?”

“I have to at least try.” Sonic thought of all his friends, Tails and Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver and Blaze, and all the civilians he’d rescued from evil robots over the years, “Yeah. I don’t know if I can do it for sure, but I want to try.”

“Well, I guess that’s all anyone can ask of you.” Knuckles tried to step out, but his foot hit the piles of torn letters, and he fell into a kind of detached melancholy.

“Oh, um...” Sonic bit his lip, looking away.

“Whatever. It’s just an old part of my past.” Knuckles stomped on the remains on his way out.

Sonic glanced from the door to the bits of paper. Kneeling down for a moment, he gathered all the torn letters in his arms and brought them outside.

“Sonic?” Knuckles paused in his walking, “What are you doing?”

Sonic didn’t reply. He saw several fire pits on his way in, so he found one of them and dumped the paper into it. He grabbed a nearby flint and steel and struck it over the pit, creating a small fire. He watched it burn quickly through the paper, and before long, the condemning letters were nothing but smoldering ashes.

Knuckles opened his mouth to speak, then he shut it again.

“Come on.” Sonic walked away with purpose, “The others are waiting for us.”

***

**April - Year 5**

Sonic stood by the ocean, the heavy rain clinging to his skin wherever his jacket wasn’t covering. The tide had been receding away for the past several hours, but it wasn’t the start of a tsunami. Chaos was regathering his strength, and his next attack was coming soon.

“Sonic.” Amy draped a thicker coat over his shoulders, “What did I say about that windbreaker?”

“I’m doing it on purpose this time.” Sonic shrugged the thicker coat off, but he caught it before it hit the ground, “I’m trying to get used to all the water so I won’t be so shocked by it when it’s time to fight Chaos.”

“You won’t be alone.”

Sonic looked into her eyes. Despite the noise of the coming storm, she was making a special effort to keep her voice down. He felt his ears droop.

He sighed, casting his gaze at the coat in his arms, “I know...”

She slowly and carefully draped her arms around him. The weight and the warmth of her hold was appreciated, and even though it was kinda against the point, Sonic didn’t push her away. The spray of the ocean reached Sonic’s ankles, and he gasped and flinched, but he didn’t jump back. His feet were still firmly planted in the sand. Maybe this would be fine. He could do this.

“You wanna know something, Sonic?”

Sonic could barely see her, seeing as their heads were touching, but her tone was soft enough that he was sure he wouldn’t have heard if they’d been farther apart.

“When Metal kidnapped me, he tried extra hard to make sure I wouldn’t get hurt. I had no idea why, he clearly had no problem killing...others, but he wouldn’t hurt me.”

Sonic knew that (when he got her out of the Chemical Plant, there wasn’t a scratch on her), but he kept listening.

“He actually seemed kind of...nice. And I couldn’t understand why.” Amy swayed a bit on her feet, making Sonic sway too as she was still holding him, “Of course, I figured it out. Metal was connected to you back then, and once I knew that, staying with him was a lot more bearable. I’m sorry I didn’t step in sooner during your fight, but in my mind, you were both Sonic. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Sonic lifted his cold hands to wrap around Amy, reciprocating her hug, “You’re so sweet, Ames...”

“Heh. Only to you.”

“You can be sweet and deadly at the same time.” Sonic pointed out, “Like a rose.”

“I guess.” Amy breathed softly in his ear, “I don’t know, I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt him, even though he’s clearly evil.”

Sonic didn’t want to let go. The spray from the water and the pouring rain hardly bothered him anymore. He was in the arms of someone who cared so much for him and yet could easily kill someone if they pissed her off. It was a kind of safety he’d seldom felt since becoming a hero, and he didn’t realize how much he missed it until he had it back.

“Oh my god.” Sonic pulled away to look into Amy’s face.

“What!? What’s wrong!?” she looked out to the sea, “Is Chaos coming!?”

“No, no, we’ve still got time.” Sonic gently took her chin in his hand, “I just...”

Amy's face fell in confusion.

“I...” Sonic nearly lost his voice from his nervousness, “Uh, just to make sure we’re on the same page, you’re still in love with me, right?”

She stared at him in hopeful realization, slowly nodding her head.

“Then, you know, if this isn’t too forward or anything...” Sonic’s face flushed despite the biting cold, _“C-can I kiss you...?”_

His voice went so quiet at the end that he wasn’t sure if Amy had even heard him, but in the next moment, Amy’s arms were around his neck and she had pressed her lips to his. He closed his eyes at the sensation, holding her around her back and running his fingers through her quills. Her lips were so soft and sweet, chills ran down his arms. He didn’t want it to end, but when Amy pulled away, he did too.

“Wow...” Amy laughed softly, “I think I’m in heaven...”

“Mhm.” Sonic hummed, “Me too.”

He stepped away so they were merely holding hands, and the cold from around them easily seeped back into his bones. He had nearly forgotten in that perfect moment where he was and why he was standing on the beach in the middle of a storm.

“When did you figure it out?”

“Huh?” Sonic’s dazed expression turned quizzical, “Figure what out?”

“You know!” she playfully pushed him, “That you returned my feelings.”

“Uhhh...” Sonic scratched his head, his laugh turning nervous, “I think...I don’t know, I think it was when you confessed to me maybe? I didn’t register it though, I wasn’t really sure what I was feeling, and I didn’t want to say I returned your feelings if I wasn’t sure if I did...and...you know?”

His explanation was far from eloquent, but Amy didn’t seem to mind, “Wow. That long?”

“Hey! To be fair, I’ve had a lot on my mind since then, you know, like how my mom is miraculously back from the dead?”

“Okay okay, I believe you.” Amy noticed that Sonic was shivering, so she lifted the coat from where it had been dropped.

“Hey, Amy, what did I-?”

“You’re going to get hypothermia at this rate.” Amy lifted one eyebrow, “I’m not sure how you plan to beat Chaos as a frozen hedge-cicle.”

“Psh. You clearly underestimate my skills, Amy.”

The ground gave a mighty shake, and Sonic and Amy held onto each other to stop themselves from falling. The biggest ocean wave came cascading over the horizon, and Sonic grabbed Amy’s arm in order to force her to run away.

Chaos had arrived.

***


End file.
